Experimental study on identifying cracks of increasing size using ultrasonic excitation

In structural health monitoring, crack identification using scattered ultrasonic waves from a crack is one of the most active research areas. Crack size estimation is important for judging the severity of the damage. If measurements are frequently performed as the crack grows, then a better estimation of crack size may be possible by analyzing sensor signals for the same crack location with different sizes. The objective of this article is to explore the relationship between the sensor signal amplitude and crack size through experiments and simulation for estimating the size. Cracks are machined into an aluminum plate and measurements are carried out with ultrasound excitation using piezoelectric transducer arrays that alternate their role as actuators or sensors. Initially, a hole of 2.5 mm diameter is drilled in the plate, and it is gradually machined to a crack with a size up to 50 mm. Signal amplitude is measured from the sensor arrays. The migration technique is used to image the crack and to find the crack location. The maximum received signal amplitude is found to vary linearly with size from simulation and this agrees with measurements with crack size up to 30 mm. The deviation between the simulation and experiment increases as the crack grows.