Structural health monitoring of bolted joints using linear and nonlinear acoustic/ultrasound methods

Abstract

The structural health monitoring (SHM) of structures is acquiring a key role in the present time. An in situ system able to assess the health state of bolted joints would save money and maintenance time, by allowing quick assessment of residual life and degradation state of structures. In the last decades, SHM systems based on linear acoustic/ultrasound methods have been investigated extensively. The scope of this study was to develop a reliable index able to assess the loosening/tightening health state of a bolted structure based on linear and nonlinear acoustic/ultrasound parameters. In particular, for the linear acoustic/ultrasound method, a tightening/loosening state index based on the first-order acoustic moment was developed. This method is based on the assumption that a change of signal energy would be recorded for different loosening/tightening states. As for the nonlinear methods, under single- and multi-frequency excitation, high-harmonics generation and sidebands modulation indices were developed. The developed tightening/loosening state index trend was very well reproduced by an analytical expression where they are expressed as function of the torque applied. In particular, the fully loosened (kissing bond) and tight state of bolted structures can be clearly identified by the measured plateau region. The proposed analytical trend approximates the experimental results with excellent correlation. By knowing this trend and measuring the proposed indices, it would be possible to know the torque applied on the bolt and therefore assess the health state of a bolted structure.

Keywords

acoustic moment harmonic generation bolt loosening/tightening sidebands nonlinear acoustics

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ihn

Chang

. Pitch-catch active sensing methods in structural health monitoring for aircraft structures. Struct Health Monit 2008; 7(1): 5–19.

Yang

Chang

. Detection of bolt loosening in C–C composite thermal protection panels: I. Diagnostic principle. Smart Mater Struct 2006; 15(2): 581–590.

Okabe

Kuwahara

Natori

. Evaluation of debonding progress in composite bonded structures using ultrasonic waves received in fiber Bragg grating sensors. Smart Mater Struct 2007; 16(4): 1370–1378.

Zhao

Gao

Zhang

. Active health monitoring of an aircraft wing with embedded piezoelectric sensor/actuator network: I. Defect detection, localization and growth monitoring. Smart Mater Struct 2007; 16(4): 1208–1208.

Polimeno

Meo

Almond

. Smart nonlinear acoustic based structural health monitoring system. Adv Sci Technol 2008; 56: 426–434.

Zumpano

Meo

. A new damage detection technique based on wave propagation for rails. Int J Solids Struct 2006; 43: 1023–1046.

Zumpano

Meo

. Damage detection in an aircraft foam sandwich panel using nonlinear elastic wave spectroscopy. Comput Struct 2008; 86(3–5): 483–490.

Yang

Chang

. Detection of bolt loosening in C–C composite thermal protection panels: II. Experimental verification. Smart Mater Struct 2006; 15: 591–599.

Ciampa

Meo

. Acoustic emission source localization and velocity determination of the fundamental mode A₀ using wavelet analysis and Newton-based optimization technique. Smart Mater Struct 2010; 19: 1–14.

10.

Meo

Zumpano

Piggott

Marengo

. Impact identification on a sandwich plate from wave propagation responses. Compos Struct 2005; 71(3–4): 302–306.

11.

Meo

Zumpano

. Nonlinear elastic wave spectroscopy identification of impact damage on a sandwich plate. Compos Struct 2005; 71: 469–474.

12.

Polimeno

Meo

. Detecting barely visible impact damage detection on aircraft composites structures. Compos Struct 2009; 91(4): 398–402.

13.

Meo

Zumpano

. A new nonlinear elastic time reversal acoustic method for the identification and localisation of stress corrosion cracking in welded plate-like structures - A simulation study. Int J Solids Struct 2007; 44: 3666–3666.

14.

Meo

Polimeno

Zumpano

. Detecting damage in composite material using nonlinear elastic wave spectroscopy methods. Appl Compos Mater 2008; 15(3): 115–126.

15.

Zumpano

Meo

. Damage localization using transient non-linear elastic wave spectroscopy on composite structures. Int J Non Linear Mech 2008; 43(3): 217–230.

16.

Meo

Zumpano

Polimeno

. Corrosion identification on an aluminium plate-like structure by monitoring the wave propagation phenomena. Corros Rev 2007; 25: 213–232.

17.

Polimeno

Meo

. Understanding the effect of boundary conditions on damage identification process when using non-linear elastic wave spectroscopy methods. Int J Non Linear Mech 2008; 43(3): 187–193.

18.

Biwa

Nakajima

Ohno

. On the acoustic nonlinearity of solid-solid contact with pressure-dependent interface stiffness. J Appl Mech 2004; 71(4): 508–515.

19.

Amerini

Barbieri

Meo

Polimeno

. Detecting loosening/tightening of clamped structures using nonlinear vibration techniques. Smart Mater Struct 2010; 19(8): 085013–085013.

20.

Ritdumrongkul

Fujino

. Identification of the location and level of damage in multiple-bolted-joint structures by PZT actuator-sensors. J Struct Eng 2006; 132(2): 304–311.

21.

Ihn

Chang

. Detection and monitoring of hidden fatigue crack growth using a built-in piezoelectric sensor/actuator network: I. Defect detection, localization and growth monitoring. Smart Mater Struct 2004; 13(3): 621–630.

22.

Alleyne

Cawley

. The interaction of Lamb waves with defects. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control 1992; 39(3): 381–397.

23.

Vary

Bowles

. An ultrasonic-acoustic techniques for nondestructive evaluation of fiber composite quality. Polym Eng Sci 2004; 19(5): 373–376.

24.

Kwon

Lee

. Acousto-ultrasonic evaluation of adhesively bonded CFRP-aluminum joints. NDT&E Int 1999; 32(3): 153–160.

25.

Summerscales

. Non-destructive testing of fibre-reinforced plastics composites 1990; Vol. 2: London: Elsevier.

26.

Kiernan

Duke

JCJ

. PC analysis of an acoustic-ultrasonic signal. Mater Eval 1988; 46(10): 1344–1352.

27.

Rokhlin

Hefets

Rosen

. An ultrasonic interface-wave method for predicting the strength of adhesive bonds. J Appl Phys 1981; 52: 2847–2851.

28.

Kyung-Young

. Applications of nonlinear ultrasonics to the NDE of material degradation. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control 2000; 47(3): 540–548.

29.

Barbieri

Meo

Polimeno

. Nonlinear wave propagation in damaged hysteretic materials using a frequency domain-based PM space formulation. Int J Solids Struct 2009; 46(1): 165–180.

30.

Hikata

Chick

Elbaum

. Effect of dislocations on finite amplitude ultrasonic waves in aluminum. Appl Phys Lett 1963; 3(11): 195–197.

31.

Kim

Jacobs

Littles

. Experimental characterization of fatigue damage in a nickel-base superalloy using nonlinear ultrasonic waves. J Acoust Soc Am 2006; 120(3): 1266–1273.

32.

Cantrell

Yost

. Nonlinear ultrasonic characterization of fatigue microstructures. Int J Fatigue 2001; 23(Suppl 1): 487–490.

33.

Frouin

Matikas

Sathish

. In-situ monitoring of acoustic linear and nonlinear behavior of titanium alloys during cyclic loading. Proc SPIE 1999; 3585: 107–116.

34.

Kawashima

Murase

Yamada

Matsushima

Uematsu

Fujita

. Nonlinear ultrasonic imaging of imperfectly bonded interfaces. Ultrasonics 2006; 44(Suppl 1): e1329–e1333.

35.

Van Den Abeele

Carmeliet

Ten Cate

Johnson

. Nonlinear elastic wave spectroscopy (NEWS) techniques to discern material damage, Part II: Single-mode nonlinear resonance acoustic spectroscopy. Res Nondestruct Eval 2000; 12(1): 31–42.

36.

Straka

Yagodzinskyy

Landa

Hänninen

. Detection of structural damage of aluminum alloy 6082 using elastic wave modulation spectroscopy. NDT&E Int 2008; 41(7): 554–563.

37.

Donskoy

Sutin

Ekimov

. Nonlinear acoustic interaction on contact interfaces and its use for nondestructive testing. NDT&E Int 2001; 34: 231–238.