Structural Health Monitoring Using Ultrasonic Guided-Waves and the Degree of Health Index

This paper proposes a new damage index named degree of health (DoH) to efficiently tackle structural damage monitoring in real-time. As a key contribution, the proposed index relies on a pattern matching methodology that measures the time-of-flight mismatch of sequential ultrasonic guided-wave measurements using fuzzy logic fundamentals. The ultrasonic signals are generated using the transmission beamforming technique with a phased-array of piezoelectric transducers. The acquisition is carried out by two phased-arrays to compare the influence of pulse-echo and pitch-catch modes in the damage assessment. The proposed monitoring approach is illustrated in a fatigue test of an aluminum sheet with an initial notch. As an additional novelty, the proposed pattern matching methodology uses the data stemming from the transmission beamforming technique for structural health monitoring. The results demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed framework in providing a qualitative and quantitative assessment for fatigue crack damage.

Automated summary

This paper introduces a new damage index called degree of health (DoH) for real-time structural damage monitoring, using a pattern matching methodology based on fuzzy logic fundamentals. The proposed approach demonstrates efficiency and robustness in qualitative and quantitative assessment of fatigue crack damage using ultrasonic signals and transmission beamforming technique.