Plate Waves Scattering Analysis and Active Damage Detection

This study investigates and evaluates the technology of using plate waves to detect the locations and sizes of circular holes and cracks in plates. Piezoelectric ceramic discs surface-mounted on both sides of an aluminum alloy plate were used as narrow-frequency plate wave actuators and sensors, and the antisymmetric plate wave signal was analyzed by wavelet transform in the time-frequency domain. The damage location and frequency spectrum characteristics were identified by the wave through time-of-flight difference and signal analysis of the damage scattered wave group. The plate wave signal of the damaged plate included the scattered wave signal and the plate wave signal transmitted directly between the piezoelectric discs. Under ideal conditions, the plate wave signal indicating damage can be obtained by subtracting the plate wave signal in a plate without damage from the plate wave signal scattered from actuators to sensors. This study established an optimization program based on the simplex algorithm to inversely calculate the location of the plate damage. The developed damage location objective function has a unique global minimum value that can ensure the accuracy of the damage location calculation, and good results were obtained in experiments. The spectral characteristics of the scattered plate wave were related to the type, size, wave propagation path, and incident angle of the damage. Numerical analyses of scattered spectra for various damages are needed as references to compare with experimental results in the future.

Actuation of Liquid Flow by Guided Acoustic Waves on Punched Steel Tapes with Protruding Loops

In a biomimetic approach the feasibility of liquid flow actuation by vibrating protruding structures excited via guided acoustic waves is investigated. Inspired by periodically beating cilia the loop part of a punched metallic hook-and-loop tape with tilted protruding loops was used as a waveguide for plate waves in water. Such waves were excited in the frequency range of 110 Hz to 220 Hz by directly coupling the tape to a loudspeaker membrane. A flow generated in the tilt direction of the loops with velocities up to 60 mm·s−1 was visualized by ink droplets deposited on the tape. The phenomenon persisted, when the protruding length of the loops was reduced by decreasing the protrusion angle. However, after closing the punch holes near the loops with sticking tape streaming could not be observed any longer. The same happened with open punch holes when the ink was replaced by glycerol. Low-frequency acoustic streaming around vibrating sharp edges is proposed as an explanation for the observed phenomena. Applications are expected with respect to the modification of flow profiles and the enhancement of transport processes along and across liquid-solid boundaries.

Investigating peculiarities of piezoelectric detection methods for acoustic plate waves in material characterisation applications

Acoustic waves in plates have proven a viable tool for testing and material characterisation purposes. There are a multitude of options for excitation and detection of theses waves, such as optical and piezoelectric systems. While optical systems, with thermoelastic excitation and interferometric detection, have the benefit of being contactless, they usually require rather complex and expensive experimental setups. Piezoelectric systems are more easily realised but require direct contact with the specimen and usually have a limited bandwidth, especially in case of piezoelectric excitation. In this work, the authors compare the properties of piezoelectric and optical detection methods for broad-band acoustic signals. The shape (e. g. the displacement) of a propagating plate wave is given by its frequency and wave number, allowing to investigate correlations between mode shapes and received signal strengths. This is aided by evaluations in normalised frequency and wavenumber space, facilitating comparisons of different specimens. Further, the authors explore possibilities to utilise the specific properties of the detection methods to determine acoustic material parameters.

Arrangement of Live Human Cells through Acoustic Waves Generated by Piezoelectric Actuators for Tissue Engineering Applications

In this paper, the possibility to steer and confine live human cells by means of acoustic waves, such as flexural plate waves (FPWs), generated by piezoelectric actuators applied to non-piezoelectric substrates, has been explored. A device with two lead zirconate titanate (PZT) actuators with an interdigital transducer (IDT) screen-printed on an alumina (Al2O3) substrate has been fabricated and tested. The experimental results show that, by exciting the actuators at their resonant frequencies, FPW modes are generated in the substrate. By exploiting the device, arrangements of cells on lines at frequency-dependent distances have been obtained. To maintain the alignment after switching off the actuator, cells were entrapped in a fibrin clot that was cultured for several days, enabling the formation of cellular patterns.