Scattering of Circumferential Waves in a Cracked Annulus
Published: 1999
Publication Name: Review of Progress in Quantitative NDE
Publication URL: https://pubs.aip.org/aip/acp/article/509/1/217/579752/Scattering-of-circumferential-waves-in-a-cracked
Abstract:
This paper considers guided waves propagating in the circumferential direction of an annulus with a radial crack, with the objective of developing an ultrasonic technique that can detect and characterize these cracks. Specifically, the finite element method is used to simulate the propagation and scattering of guided circumferential waves in a cracked annulus. This method fosters a better understanding of the wave fields, so that a transducer configuration used in the field can be optimized for crack detection/characterization. Both a point source (simulating laser generated ultrasound) and a distributed source (simulating a PZT transducer) are modeled and compared to corresponding experimental results. Animations (snapshots at different instants in time) of the strain energy field in the annulus are given for various combinations of load profiles, incident angles, and incident frequencies. Results of this paper provide the necessary design guidelines for developing nondestructive ultrasonic techniques for the detection/characterization of radial cracks in cylindrical pressure vessels, gas/oil pipes, and shaft/bearing systems.