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Multi-sensing NDT approaches for inspection of structural components

Details
Title
Multi-sensing NDT approaches for inspection of structural components
Author(s)
Khan, Md. Fuad Hassan
Advisor(s)
Bartoli, Ivan; Kontsos, Antonios
Keywords
Civil engineering; Nondestructive testing; Infrastructure (Economics)--Technological innovations
Date
2015-07
Publisher
Drexel University
Thesis
Ph.D., Civil Engineering -- Drexel University, 2015
Abstract
The economy of any country is tied to its infrastructure. Maintaining these assets is as critical as designing and building new infrastructures. Nondestructive testing (NDT) has been successfully embedded in the maintenance process in several applications in aerospace as well as in civil engineering. The simultaneous use of different nondestructive approaches could improve infrastructure condition assessment. As an example, Federal Highway Administration has recently developed a robotic multifunctional nondestructive evaluation platform to assess bridge decks that leverages high definition imaging, electrical resistivity, ultrasonic based methods and ground penetrating radar. Such systems might be expensive, however, NDT equipment is becoming increasingly affordable and the effective integration of few different nondestructive methods could significantly improve the way infrastructures are assessed. This research discusses how heterogeneous multi-sensing nondestructive approaches can be implemented and integrated for the assessment of civil as well as aerospace structural components. A combination of multiple NDT techniques was applied on a number of complex structural elements such as 7-wire strands, composite aircraft wing specimens, concrete masonry walls, mock-up and in situ bridge decks. A multi-spectral inspection system based on RGB and IR imaging for rapid assessment of bridge decks was developed. The developed system was installed on both aerial and ground based vehicles. A detailed calibration process of Infrared Thermography and the effect of environmental factors on its system efficiency were included. The multi-sensing NDT approach used in this study consisted of two acoustic and one optical technique. Ultrasonic (UT) and Acoustic emission (AE) were used as acoustic approach whereas Infrared Thermography (IRT) was used as Optical NDT approach. Each of these techniques has miscellaneous advantages and their integration can provide valuable information regarding the condition of a structure. A data fusion approach was also implemented by combining impact echo (IE) and infrared thermography (IRT) on a concrete bridge deck specimen with embedded delamination to increase the reliability of results. The research performed has allowed to demonstrate the potential and limitations of selected NDT methods on structural components and has provided the necessary understanding to develop a framework to leverage multi-sensing heterogeneous NDT approaches. The validation of the framework on specific case studies was the goal of this research work.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1860/idea:6603
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Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

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