Ansatz zur Risserkennung in Stahlblechen anhand der Verzerrung von Lamb-Wellen

Lamb-wave distortion as approach to detect cracks in steel plates

The work presented here examines fatigue of steel specimens based on harmonic-distortion of Lamb-waves. Cyclic tension load is applied on notched steel specimens until failure under Low-Cycle-Fatigue (LCF) occurs. The fatigue test is interrupted every 1000 load cycles. An actuator excites Lamb-waves with singular frequencies and frequency bands in a range from 1 to 500 kHz. After the Lamb-waves passed the notch they are recorded by a sensor. Analysing the spectra shows a declining of the average amplitude with increasing material fatigue. These results provide an approach to develop a robust crack detection methodology. A major advantage of such an approach is the ability to detect cracks at least shortly before they become visible without requiring reference measurements of the undamaged structure.