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An integrated structural health monitoring system based on electromechanical impedance and guided ultrasonic waves

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Abstract

We propose a structural health monitoring (SHM) paradigm based on the simultaneous use of ultrasounds and electromechanical impedance (EMI) to monitor waveguides. Methods based on the propagation of guided ultrasonic waves (GUWs) are increasingly used in all those SHM applications that benefit from built-in transduction, moderately large inspection ranges, and high sensitivity to small flaws. Meantime, impedance-based SHM promises to adequately assess locally the structural integrity of simple waveguides and complex structures such as bolted connections. As both methods utilize piezoelectric transducers bonded or embedded to the structure of interest, this paper describes a unified SHM paradigm where pulse-echo and pitch-catch GUWs as well as EMI are employed simultaneously and are driven by the same sensing/hardware/software. We assess the feasibility of this unified system by monitoring a large flat aluminum plate with two transducers. Damage is simulated by adding small masses to the plate. The results demonstrate that the proposed system is robust and can be developed further to address the challenges associated with the SHM of complex structures.

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Acknowledgments

This research was partially supported by the US National Science Foundation grant (CMMI 1029457). The first and the last authors performed this research as visiting scholars at the University of Pittsburgh.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil, Environmental, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy

    Vincenzo Gulizzi, Alberto Milazzo & Emma La Malfa Ribolla

  2. Laboratory for Nondestructive Evaluation and Structural Health Monitoring Studies, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 3700 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Piervincenzo Rizzo

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  1. Vincenzo Gulizzi
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  2. Piervincenzo Rizzo
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Correspondence to Piervincenzo Rizzo.

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Gulizzi, V., Rizzo, P., Milazzo, A. et al. An integrated structural health monitoring system based on electromechanical impedance and guided ultrasonic waves. J Civil Struct Health Monit 5, 337–352 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-015-0112-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-015-0112-0

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