Description:
Reference #: 01325
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for Enhanced Imaging for Quantification of Complex Discontinuity in Plate-like Structures
Background:
Structural health monitoring (SHM) and Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) use ultrasonic guided waves (GW) supported by active sensor technology to interrogate structural components to assess damage, predict failure, expedite needed repairs, and increase the useful life of the components.
Invention Description:
Superior ultrasonic SHM/NDE synthetic imaging methods that can image significantly more complex discontinuity or shapes in plate-like structures. These imaging techniques can provide the inspectors high-resolution images of the discontinuity in the testing structure including its location, shape and/or size. Comparing to the existing commonly used ultrasonic imaging techniques, the proposed methods can provide high quality images of discontinuities with more complicated profiles.
Potential Applications:
The proposed GW imaging methods can provide high-resolution images of discontinuities with more complicated profiles in plate-like structures, such as complex shapes and multiple discontinuities.
The major potential industrial applications of this invention are:
• SHM/NDE
• Damage detection and quantification
• Quality control and evaluation of plate-like products
Targeted applications include plate-like products manufactures in aerospace, automotive, energy generation, and other related industries that are required to evaluate structural damage and to assure the safety of their products.
Advantages and Benefits:
Compared to the existing commonly used GW imaging methods, the unique features of the developed algorithms include:
• Multiple actuators excitation from different angles, enclosing the discontinuity for imaging
• Imaging algorithms using intrinsic wave characteristics including but not limited to: wavefield, wavenumber, or reconstructed wave energy.
Overall, the developed imaging methods can give better resolution than the existing commonly used GW imaging methods, especially when the discontinuity is complicated.