Damage detection in multi-wire cables using guided ultrasonic waves

Structural Health Monitoring systems are developed to cost-efficiently prevent failure of mechanical and civil structures, and to predict the structure’s residual life. In this work, a damage detection algorithm based on the Hilbert transform of the recorded signals from induced guided ultrasonic waves is presented. By means of this algorithm, damage localization in multi-wire cables is performed through a time-of-flight analysis of the wave packets. The algorithm is fully automated and distinguishes between wave packets from different waves independently. Its applicability is analyzed for laboratory experiments on a single cylindrical wire and on multi-wire cables. As an additional damage indicator, second harmonic waves are evaluated. Furthermore, the possibility to perform damage identification by evaluating the waves’ amplitudes is analyzed. The amplitudes are compared with reference data from a novel hybrid finite-boundary element method.