Ultrasonic Wave Propagation in Progressively Loaded Multi-Wire Strands

In recent years methods based on guided ultrasonic waves gained increasing attention for the nondestructive evaluation and the health monitoring of multi-wire strands used in civil structures as prestressing tendons and stay cables. The study of wave propagation properties in such components has been challenging due to the load-dependent inter-wire contact and the helical geometry of the peripheral wires. The present paper addresses an experimental investigation on the ultrasonic wave propagation in seven-wire strands loaded at different stress levels. Wafer piezoelectric sensors are employed in a through transmission configuration for the generation and detection of stress waves. The response of the lowest-order longitudinal mode is studied at different levels of load. Those ultrasonic features, associated with the transmitted ultrasonic energy, sensitive to the variation of applied load are identified and discussed as possible means of a load monitoring.

[1]  M. Beard,et al.  Guided wave inspection of embedded cylindrical structures , 2002 .

[2]  Gary L. Burkhardt,et al.  Relationship between reflected signal amplitude and defect size in rope inspection using a transverse-impulse vibrational wave , 1991 .

[3]  Allen H. Meitzler,et al.  Mode Coupling Occurring in the Propagation of Elastic Pulses in Wires , 1961 .

[4]  Tribikram Kundu,et al.  Inspection of interfaces between corroded steel bars and concrete using the combination of a piezoelectric zirconate-titanate transducer and an electromagnetic acoustic transducer , 2003 .

[5]  Peter Cawley,et al.  THE INSPECTION OF TENDONS IN POST-TENSIONED CONCRETE USING GUIDED ULTRASONIC WAVES , 1999 .

[6]  Francesco Lanza di Scalea,et al.  Load measurement and health monitoring in cable stays via guided wave magnetostrictive ultrasonics , 2004 .

[7]  Tribikram Kundu,et al.  A combination of PZT and EMAT transducers for interface inspection. , 2002, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[8]  Hung-Liang Roger Chen,et al.  APPLICATION OF WIGNER-VILLE TRANSFORM TO EVALUATE TENSILE FORCES IN SEVEN-WIRE PRESTRESSING STRANDS , 2002 .

[9]  Peter Cawley,et al.  High-Frequency Low-Loss Ultrasonic Modes in Imbedded Bars , 2001 .

[10]  Frieder Seible,et al.  STRESS MEASUREMENT AND DEFECT DETECTION IN STEEL STRANDS BY GUIDED STRESS WAVES , 2003 .

[11]  Peter Cawley,et al.  ULTRASONIC GUIDED WAVES FOR INSPECTION OF GROUTED TENDONS AND BOLTS , 2003 .

[12]  P. Rizzo,et al.  Wave propagation in multi-wire strands by wavelet-based laser ultrasound , 2004 .

[13]  Piervincenzo Rizzo,et al.  Feature Extraction for Defect Detection in Strands by Guided Ultrasonic Waves , 2006 .

[14]  H. Kwun,et al.  Detection of fractured wires in steel cables using magnetorestrictive sensors , 1994 .

[15]  Glenn Washer,et al.  Velocity Constants for Ultrasonic Stress Measurement in Prestressing Tendons , 2002 .

[16]  J. Hanley,et al.  Effects of tensile loading on the properties of elastic-wave propagation in a strand , 1998 .

[17]  Glenn Washer The acoustoelastic effect in prestressing tendons , 2001 .