Publications
73 results found
Shi F, Huthwaite P, 2018, Ultrasonic wave-speed diffraction tomography with undersampled data using virtual transducers, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, Vol: 65, Pages: 1226-1238, ISSN: 0885-3010
Ultrasonic diffraction tomography (DT) offers a way to achieve high-resolution imaging of the wavespeed map, and hence has strong potential applications in medical diagnosis and Nondestructive evaluation (NDE). Ideal images can be obtained with a complete array of sensors surrounding the scatterer, provided that the measurement data are fully sampled in space, obeying the Nyquist criterion. Spatial undersampling causes the image to be distorted and introduce unwanted circular artefacts. In this paper we propose an iteration approach using virtual transducers to achieve high-resolution tomographic imaging with undersampled measurements. At each iteration stage, the extent constraint estimated from the shape of the object of interest is applied on the image space to obtain a regularized image, based on which the ultrasonic measurement data at virtual transducers are calculated using a forward model. The full dataset composed of original and virtual measurements is then used for tomography in the next stage. A final image with sufficiently high resolution is obtained after only a few iterations. The new imaging method yields improvements in the robustness and accuracy of ultrasonic tomography with undersampled data.We present numerical results using complicated wavespeed maps from realistic corrosion profiles. In addition, an experiment using guided ultrasonic waves is performed to further evaluate the imaging method.
Zhang C, Huthwaite P, Lowe M, 2018, The application of the Factorization Method to the subsurface imaging of surfacebreaking cracks, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, Vol: 65, Pages: 497-512, ISSN: 0885-3010
A common location for cracks to appear is at the surface of a component; at the near surface, many nondestructive evaluation techniques are available to inspect for these, but at the far surface this is much more challenging. Ultrasonic imaging is proposed to enable far surface defect detection, location, and characterization. One specific challenge here is the presence of a strong reflection from the backwall, which can often mask the relatively small response from a defect. In this paper, the factorization method (FM) is explored for the application of subsurface imaging of the surface-breaking cracks. In this application, the component has two parallel surfaces, the crack is initiated from the far side and the phased array is attached on the near side. Ideally, the pure scattered field from a defect is needed for the correct estimation of the scatterer through the FM algorithm. However, the presence of the backwall will introduce a strong specular reflection into the measured data which should be removed before applying the FM algorithm. A novel subtraction method was developed to remove the backwall reflection. The performance of the FM algorithm and this subtraction method were tested with the simulated and experimental data. The experimental results showed a good consistency with the simulated results. It is shown that the FM algorithm can generate high-quality images to provide a good detection of the crack and an accurate sizing of the crack length. The subtraction method was able to provide a good backwall reflection removal in the case of small cracks (1-3 wavelengths).
Jones GA, Huthwaite P, 2017, Limited view X-ray tomography for dimensional measurements, NDT and E International, Vol: 93, Pages: 98-109, ISSN: 0963-8695
The growing use of complex and irregularly shaped components for safety-critical applications has increasingly led to the adoption of X-ray CT as an NDE inspection tool. Standard X-ray CT methods require thousands of projections, each regularly distributed evenly through 360∘ to produce an accurate image. The time consuming acquisition of thousands of projections can lead to significant bottlenecks. Recent developments in medical imaging driven by both increasing computational power and the desire to reduce patient X-ray exposure have led to the development of a number of limited view CT methodologies. Thus far these limited view algorithms have been applied to basic synthetic data derived from simple medical phantoms. Here, we use experimental data to rigorously test the capability of limited view algorithms to accurately reconstruct and precisely measure the dimensional features of an additive manufactured sample and a turbine blade. Our findings highlight the importance of prior information in producing accurate reconstructions capable of significantly reducing X-ray projections by at least an order of magnitude. In the turbine blade example a dramatic reduction in projections from 5000 to 24 was observed while still demonstrating the same level of accuracy as standard CT methods. The findings of the study also suggest the importance of sample complexity and the presence of sparsity in the X-ray projections in order to maximise the capabilities of these limited algorithms. With the ever increasing computational power limited view CT algorithms offer a method for reducing data acquisition time and alleviating manufacturing throughput bottlenecks without compromising image accuracy and quality.
Egerton JS, Lowe MJS, Huthwaite P, et al., 2017, A multiband approach for accurate numerical simulation of frequency dependent ultrasonic wave propagation in the time domain, JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, Vol: 142, Pages: 1270-1280, ISSN: 0001-4966
Finite element (FE) simulations are popular for studying propagation and scattering of ultrasonic waves in nondestructive evaluation. For a large number of degrees of freedom, time domain FE simulations are much more efficient than the equivalent frequency domain solution. However, unlike frequency domain simulations, time domain simulations are often poor at representing the speed and the attenuation of waves if the material is strongly damping or highly dispersive. Here, the authors demonstrate efficient and accurate representation of propagated and scattered waves, achieved by combining a set of time domain solutions that are obtained for a set of frequency ranges known as bands, such that, in combination, the authors' multiband solution accurately represents the whole wave spectrum. Consequently, high accuracy is achieved, at minor computational cost, using a modest number of bands. The multiband technique is implemented for ultrasonic wave propagation in highly attenuating polyethylene material, using three frequency bands, and can yield a reduction in empirical acoustic properties fractional error compared with respective time domain simulations, in propagation duration, of a factor of 1.4, and in full-width-half-maximum, of a factor of 10. Last, the accuracy of this approach is further exemplified in a wave scattering simulation.
Egerton JS, Lowe MJS, Huthwaite P, et al., 2017, Ultrasonic attenuation and phase velocity of high-density polyethylene pipe material, JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, Vol: 141, Pages: 1535-1545, ISSN: 0001-4966
Knowledge of acoustic properties is crucial for ultrasonic or sonic imaging and signal detection in nondestructive evaluation (NDE), medical imaging, and seismology. Accurately and reliably obtaining these is particularly challenging for the NDE of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), such as is used in many water or gas pipes, because the properties vary greatly with frequency, temperature, direction and spatial location. Therefore the work reported here was undertaken in order to establish a basis for such a multiparameter description. The approach is general but the study specifically addresses HDPE and includes measured data values. Applicable to any such multiparameter acoustic properties dataset is a devised regression method that uses a neural network algorithm. This algorithm includes constraints to respect the Kramers-Kronig causality relationship between speed and attenuation of waves in a viscoelastic medium. These constrained acoustic properties are fully described in a multidimensional parameter space to vary with frequency, depth, temperature, and direction. The resulting uncertainties in acoustic properties dependence on the above variables are better than 4% and 2%, respectively, for attenuation and phase velocity and therefore can prevent major defect imaging errors.
Haith MI, Huthwaite P, Lowe MJS, 2016, Defect characterisation from limited view pipeline radiography, NDT & E INTERNATIONAL, Vol: 86, Pages: 186-198, ISSN: 0963-8695
This work presents a method of characterising pipeline defects using a small number of radiographs taken at different angles around the pipe. The method relies on knowledge of the setup geometry and use of multiple images, and does not require calibration objects to be included in the setup. It is aimed at use in situations where access is difficult such as in subsea pipeline inspections. Given a set of radiographs, a background subtraction method is used to extract defects in the images. Using a ray tracing algorithm and knowledge of the experimental setup, the range of possible locations of the defect in 3D space is then calculated. Constraints are applied on potential defect shapes and positions to further refine the defect range. The method is tested on simulated and experimental flat bottomed hole defects and simulated corrosion patch defects with lateral and axial sizes ranging from 12.5 to 33.8 mm and thickness between 3 mm and 16 mm. Results demonstrate a good, consistent ability to calculate lateral and axial defect dimensions to within ±3 mm of the true size. Defect thickness calculations are more difficult and as such errors are more significant. In most cases defect thickness is calculated to within 4 mm of the actual value, often closer. Errors in thickness are due to overestimation, meaning the calculation could be used to place a maximum limit on potential defect size rather than as an actual estimate of the thickness. This would still be useful, for example in deciding whether a defect requires further investigation.
Huthwaite P, 2016, Eliminating incident subtraction in diffraction tomography, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol: 472, Pages: 1-25, ISSN: 1364-5021
Diffraction tomography is a powerful algorithm for producing high-resolution quantitative reconstructions across a wide range of applications. A major drawback of the method is that it operates on the scattered field, which cannot generally be directly measured, but must instead be calculated by subtracting the incident field, i.e. the equivalent field with no scatterer present. Unfortunately, often the incident field is not measurable and hence must be estimated, causing errors. This paper highlights an important, but not widely recognized, result: for particular widely used formulations of the algorithm, the subtraction of the incident field is unnecessary, and the algorithm can actually be applied directly to measured signals. The theory behind this is derived, showing that the incident field will vanish under far-field conditions, and the result is demonstrated in practice. Tests with subsampled arrays show that aliasing artefacts can appear, but can be removed with a filter at the expense of resolution. The incident field also has no effect for a variety of array configurations tested. Finally, the performance in the presence of both correlated and uncorrelated errors is confirmed, in all cases demonstrating that the incident field has a negligible effect on the final reconstruction.
Huthwaite P, 2016, Guided wave tomography with an improved scattering model, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol: 472, Pages: 1-24, ISSN: 1364-5021
Producing accurate thickness maps of corrosion damage is of great importance for assessing life in the petrochemical industry. Guided wave tomography provides a solution for this, by sending guided waves through the region of interest, then using tomographic imaging techniques to reconstruct the thickness map, importantly eliminating the need to take measurements at all points across the surface. However, to achieve accurate maps, the imaging algorithm must account for the way in which the guided waves interact with corrosion defects, and the complex scattering which occurs. Traditional approaches have exploited the dispersive nature of guided waves: a velocity map is produced from a dataset, then converted to thickness using the dispersion relationship. However, these relationships are derived for plates of constant thickness, which is not the case in the majority of defects, causing significant inaccuracies to exist in the images. This paper develops a more sophisticated inversion solution which accounts for the full-guided wave scattering, enabling more accurate images with resolution better than a wavelength, compared with two wavelengths previously. This is demonstrated with simulated and experimental data. The speed and stability of the algorithm in the presence of random noise and systematic errors is also demonstrated.
Haith MI, Ewert U, Hohendorf S, et al., 2016, Radiographic modelling for NDE of subsea pipelines, NDT & E INTERNATIONAL, Vol: 86, Pages: 113-122, ISSN: 0963-8695
This work presents an investigation of the accuracy of a radiographic simulation model applied to subsea pipeline inspections. Experimental measurements of a sample in a water tank are used to develop a set of calibrated simulation parameters for the modelling software aRTist. Image quality parameters such as signal-to-noise ratio, contrast and basic spatial resolution are compared with the aim of matching simulated values to experimental results. With this method signal-to-noise ratio was successfully matched while differences were still found in contrast-to-noise ratio comparisons. This means that measurements depending on absolute intensity are not accurate enough, however wall thickness measurements in tangential images, which are not based on absolute intensity, were found to produce similar results in simulated and experimental cases. The differences in contrast and intensity are thought to be due to detector backscatter and additional scatter from out-of-setup objects within the exposure bay, due to a lack of source collimation. These would affect the experimental results but were not included in the simulated setup. This was investigated by including different proportions of peripheral water and other objects in the modelled setup and examining the effect on image quality parameters. Results show that this additional scatter has a significant impact on the radiograph, particularly on image contrast, and is therefore the likely cause of differences between experimental and simulated images. This implies that it will be very difficult to completely match simulated to experimental results, as including all possible scattering objects in the model would be very complex. An improvement could be made by using real subsea data to estimate this additional scattering, which could then be used to calibrate the model. However there would still be significant uncertainty in the ability of the model to accurately produce realistic intensity and contrast.
Seher M, Huthwaite P, Lowe MJS, 2016, Experimental Studies of the Inspection of Areas With Restricted Access Using A0 Lamb Wave Tomography, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, Vol: 63, Pages: 1455-1467, ISSN: 0885-3010
Corrosion damage in inaccessible regions presents a significant challenge to the petrochemical industry, and determining the remaining wall thickness is important to establish the remaining service life. Guided wave tomography is one solution to this and involves transmitting Lamb waves through the area of interest and, subsequently, using the received signals to reconstruct a thickness map of the remaining wall thickness. This avoids the need to access all points on the surface, making the technique well suited to inspection for areas with restricted access. The influence of these areas onto the ability to detect and size surface conditions, such as corrosion damage, using guided wave tomography is assessed. For that, a guided wave tomography system is employed, which is based on low-frequency A0 Lamb waves that are excited and detected with two arrays of electromagnetic acoustic transducers. Two different defect depths are considered with different contrasts relative to the nominal wall thickness, both of which are smoothly varying and well-defined. The influence of areas with restricted surface access, support locations, pipe clamps, and STOPAQ(R) coatings is experimentally tested, and their influence assessed through comparison to a baseline reconstruction without the respective restriction in place, demonstrating only a small influence on the detected value of the remaining wall thickness.
Van Pamel A, Huthwaite P, Brett CR, et al., 2016, Numerical simulations of ultrasonic array imaging of highly scattering materials, NDT & E International, Vol: 81, Pages: 9-19, ISSN: 0963-8695
Huthwaite P, 2016, Improving accuracy through density correction in guided wave tomography, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol: 472, Pages: 1-25, ISSN: 1364-5021
The accurate quantification of wall loss caused by corrosion is critical to the reliable life estimation of pipes and pressure vessels. Traditional thickness gauging by scanning a probe is slow and requires access to all points on the surface; this is impractical in many cases as corrosion often occurs where access is restricted, such as beneath supports where water collects. Guided wave tomography presents a solution to this; by transmitting guided waves through the region of interest and exploiting their dispersive nature, it is possible to build up a map of thickness. While the best results have been seen when using the fundamental modes A0 and S0 at low frequency, the complex scattering of the waves causes errors within the reconstruction. It is demonstrated that these lead to an underestimate in wall loss for A0 but an overestimate for S0. Further analysis showed that this error was related to density variation, which was proportional to thickness. It was demonstrated how this could be corrected for in the reconstructions, in many cases resulting in the near-elimination of the error across a range of defects, and greatly improving the accuracy of life estimates from guided wave tomography.
Van Pamel A, Brett CR, Huthwaite P, et al., 2015, Finite element modelling of elastic wave scattering within a polycrystalline material in two and three dimensions, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol: 138, Pages: 2326-2336, ISSN: 0001-4966
Finite element modelling is a promising tool for further progressing the development of ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation of polycrystalline materials. Yet its widespread adoption has been held back due to a high computational cost, which has restricted current works to relatively small models and to two dimensions. However, the emergence of sufficiently powerful computing, such as highly efficient solutions on graphics processors, is enabling a step improvement in possibilities. This article aims to realise those capabilities to simulate ultrasonic scattering of longitudinal waves in an equiaxed polycrystalline material in both two (2D) and three dimensions (3D). The modelling relies on an established Voronoi approach to randomly generate a representative grain morphology. It is shown that both 2D and 3D numerical data show good agreement across a range of scattering regimes in comparison to well-established theoretical predictions for attenuation and phase velocity. In addition, 2D parametric studies illustrate the mesh sampling requirements for two different types of mesh to ensure modelling accuracy and present useful guidelines for future works. Modelling limitations are also shown. It is found that 2D models reduce the scattering mechanism in the Rayleigh regime.
Van Pamel A, Huthwaite P, Brett CR, et al., 2015, Finite Element Modelling of Wave Propagation in Highly Scattering Materials, 42nd Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE), Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP), ISSN: 1551-7616
Ultrasonic inspection of highly scattering materials presents challenges for industry. This article describes a Finite Element modelling methodology to simulate wave propagation within polycrystalline materials. Concerns are answered regarding its required mesh sampling and ability to capture the complex scattering physics. It is shown that grain scattering phenomena are closely reproduced across a range of scattering regimes. The procedure is subsequently applied to investigate the optimal configuration of an array inspecting such a material. It is found that in certain situations, separating emitter and receiver can be advantageous as this reduces the received backscatter.
Haith MI, Ewert U, Hohendorf S, et al., 2015, Modelling Based Radiography for NDE of Subsea Pipelines, 42nd Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE), Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP), ISSN: 1551-7616
This work presents the use of limited experimental measurements to develop a set of calibrated simulation parameters that can then be used for reliable simulation of subsea pipeline inspections. The modelling software aRTist is used as the simulation tool, and the calibration is through comparison with experimental images of a well characterised sample in a water tank. Image quality parameters such as signal-to-noise ratio, contrast and basic spatial resolution are compared with the aim of matching simulated values to experimental results. Currently the model is partially calibrated, with signal-to-noise ratio successfully matched while differences are still found in contrast-to-noise ratio comparisons. This means that measurements depending on absolute intensity are not accurate enough in the simulation at this stage. However, the simulation is found to be accurate for wall thickness measurements in tangential images, which are not based on absolute intensity, with simulated and experimental cases producing similar results
Ewert U, Tschaikner M, Hohendorf S, et al., 2015, Corrosion Monitoring with Tangential Radiography and Limited View Computed Tomography, 42nd Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE), Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP), ISSN: 1551-7616
Accurate and reliable detection of subsea pipeline corrosion is required in order to verify the integrity of the pipeline. A laboratory trial was conducted with a representative pipe sample. The accurate measurement of the wall thickness and corrosion was performed with high energy X-rays and a digital detector array. A 7.5 MV betatron was used to penetrate a stepped pipe and a welded test pipe of 3 m length and 327 mm outer diameter, with different artificial corrosion areas in the 24 mm thick steel wall. The radiographs were taken with a 40 x 40 cm² digital detector array, which was not large enough to cover the complete pipe diameter after magnification. A C-arm based geometry was tested to evaluate the potential for automated inspection in field. The primary goal was the accurate measurement of wall thickness conforming to the standard. The same geometry was used to explore the ability of a C-arm based scanner in asymmetric mode for computed tomography (CT) measurement, taking projections covering only two thirds of the pipe diameter. The technique was optimized with the modelling software aRTist. A full volume of the pipe was reconstructed and the CT data set was used for reverse engineering, providing a CAD file for further aRTist simulations to explore the technique for subsea inspections.
Huthwaite P, Lowe M, Cawley P, 2015, Guided Wave Tomography Performance Analysis, 42nd Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE), Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP), ISSN: 1551-7616
Quantifying wall loss caused by corrosion is a significant challenge for the petrochemical industry. Corrosion commonly occurs at pipe supports, where surface access for inspection is limited. Guided wave tomography is pursued as a solution to this: guided waves are transmitted through the region of interest from an array, and tomographic reconstruction techniques are applied to the measured signals in order to produce a map of thickness. There are many parameters in the system which can affect the performance; this paper investigates how the accuracy varies as defect width and depth, operating frequency and guided wave mode are all changed. For the S0 mode, the best performance was seen around 170kHz on the 10mm plate, with poor performance seen at almost all other frequencies. A0 showed better performance across a broad range of frequencies, with resolution improving with frequency as the wavelength reduced. However, it was shown that the resolution limit did drop relative to the wavelength, limiting the performance at high frequencies slightly.
Egerton JS, Lowe MJS, Halai HV, et al., 2015, Improved FE Simulation of Ultrasound in Plastics, 42nd Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE), Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP), ISSN: 1551-7616
Some UK and US nuclear power stations have begun introducing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes to certain cooling water circuits. HDPE offers improved performance over existing pipe materials, such as cast iron, by not corroding in-ternally or externally, yet occasional defects form in HDPE pipe fusion joints at the production stage. This necessitates suitable volumetric NDE to safely and reliably assess joint integrity. Ultrasonic NDE is the most viable current technique, but improved inspection capability is needed, given that the challenges of NDE of plastics differ significantly from those of metals. This also necessitates an accurate and reliable wave propagation simulation technique, such as finite-element (FE) modelling. Accurate FE modelling of ultrasound in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) must account for frequency-dependent behaviour but, the most ap-parent way to do so – frequency domain FE modelling – is prohibitively computationally expensive and potentially impossible to solve for all but the smallest models. Here we present a multiband time domain FE simulation technique to address this. The proposed multiband technique is a computationally efficient and accurate approach to time domain FE modelling of ultrasonic wave propagation. It could, for example, be used to validate the NDE of a large range of candidate fusion joint defects in HDPE. The proposed model uses a small number of time domain FE simulations at individual frequency bands that together cover the bandwidth of interest. The frequency dependence of acoustic properties of ultrasound is accurately represented for HDPE and could readily be applied to other media.
Seher M, Huthwaite P, Lowe MJS, et al., 2015, Model-Based Design of Low Frequency Lamb Wave EMATs for Mode Selectivity, Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol: 34, ISSN: 1573-4862
A low-frequency, omni-directional A0 Lamb wave ElectroMagnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) is developed for applications in guided wave tomography, operating at 50 kHz on a 10 mm thick steel plate. The key objective is to excite an acceptably pure A0 wave mode in relation to the S0 mode, which can also be present at this operating point and is desired to be suppressed by approximately 30 dB. For that, a parametric Finite Element (FE) model of the design concept is implemented in a commercially available FE software, where the bias magnetic field is calculated initially, then combined with the eddy current caused by the induction coil to produce a force. A numerical optimization process employing a genetic algorithm is set up and the EMAT design is optimized to yield an improved A0 mode selectivity. The parameters subjected to optimization are the magnet diameter and the magnet lift-off, which control the direction of the exciting force in the skin depth layer and therefore the mode selectivity. Although there are three possible electromagnetic acoustic interaction mechanisms, the optimisation considers only the Lorentz force, as its performance surface contains a clear optimum and from the optimised design a physical prototype is built. The FE model is validated against measurements on an aluminium plate for the Lorentz force excitation mechanism and on a steel plate for both the Lorentz and magnetisation force. For the steel plate, it is found that only considering the Lorentz force leads to a significant overestimation of the mode selectivity, as the S0 amplitude is underestimated by the Lorentz force, but the A0 amplitude remains mainly uninfluenced. Further, it has been found that additionally including the magnetisation force into the optimisation leads to a better mode selectivity, however, the optimisation drives the optimum to a minimum magnet diameter and therefore reduces the EMAT sensitivity. In a numerical study robustness is shown for fair
Huthwaite P, Seher M, 2015, Robust Helical Path Separation for Thickness Mapping of Pipes by Guided Wave Tomography, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, Vol: 62, Pages: 927-938, ISSN: 1525-8955
Pipe wall loss caused by corrosion can be quantifiedacross an area by transmitting guided Lamb waves throughthe region and measuring the resulting signals. Typically thedispersive relationship for these waves, which means thatwave velocity is a known function of thickness, is exploited,enabling the wall thickness to be determined from a velocityreconstruction. The accuracy and quality of this reconstructionis commonly limited by the angle of view available from thetransducer arrays. These arrays are often attached as a pairof ring arrays on either side of the inspected region, and dueto the cylindrical nature of the pipe, waves are able to travelin an infinite number of helical paths between any two transducers.The first arrivals can be separated relatively easily bytime gating, but by using just these components the angle ofview is severely restricted. To improve the viewing angle, it isnecessary to separate the wavepackets. This paper provides anoutline of a separation approach: initially the waves are backpropagatedto their source to align the different signals, then afiltering technique is applied to select the desired components.The technique is applied to experimental data and demonstratedto robustly separate the signals
Seher M, Huthwaite P, Lowe M, et al., 2015, Experimental Study of A0 Lamb Wave Tomography, 41st Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE), Publisher: AMER INST PHYSICS, Pages: 245-253, ISSN: 0094-243X
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Huthwaite P, Seher M, 2015, Helical Path Separation For Guided Wave Tomography, 41st Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE), Publisher: AMER INST PHYSICS, Pages: 761-770, ISSN: 0094-243X
Van Pamel A, Huthwaite P, Brett CR, et al., 2015, A Finite Element Model Investigation of Ultrasonic Array Performance for Inspecting Polycrystalline Materials, 41st Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE), Publisher: AMER INST PHYSICS, Pages: 1007-1014, ISSN: 0094-243X
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Huthwaite P, Shi F, Van Pamel A, et al., 2015, High-Speed GPU-Based Finite Element Simulations for NDT, 41st Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE), Publisher: AMER INST PHYSICS, Pages: 1815-1819, ISSN: 0094-243X
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Gajdacsi A, Jarvis AJC, Huthwaite P, et al., 2014, Reconstruction of Temperature Distribution in a Steel Block Using an Ultrasonic Sensor Array, Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol: 33, Pages: 458-470, ISSN: 1573-4862
Permanently installed ultrasonic sensors have thecapability of measuring much smaller changes in the signalthan conventional sensors that are used for ultrasonic inspections.This is because uncertainties associated with couplingfluids and positional offsets are eliminated. Therefore it ispotentially possible to monitor the onset of material degradation.A particular degradation mechanism that we are keento monitor is high temperature hydrogen attack; where theamount of damage is linked to a drop in ultrasonic velocitywhich we hope can be monitored for with an ultrasonic array.The changes introduced in the ultrasonic propagation velocityare expected to be of the order of 1 % and in practice theyare observable only from a very limited field of view (i.e. fromthe outside of a pipe) and therefore the reconstruction is challengingto accomplish. In order to explore the feasibility ofthis, we are investigating the reconstruction of a non-uniformtemperature distribution which allows us to quickly evaluatethe sensitivity of our method to small spatial variations inultrasonic velocity of the material. Two reconstruction algorithmswere implemented and their performance comparedin simulated and real measurements. The results of the testswere encouraging: local temperature differences as low as10 ◦C could be detected, which corresponds to a local propagationvelocity change of 5 m/s (0.15 % relative velocitychange).
Huthwaite P, 2014, Evaluation of inversion approaches for guided wave thickness mapping, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol: 470, Pages: 1-28, ISSN: 1364-5021
Accurate inversion is vital for quantitative imaging, including ultrasonic guided wave tomography, where thickness maps of plate-like structures are reconstructed to quantify corrosion damage. The dispersive properties of guided waves are often exploited to enable thickness maps to be produced from wave speed reconstructions. Ray tomography, diffraction tomography and a hybrid algorithm combining their features were investigated to reconstruct wave speed. Test data produced from simple defects of different sizes using a realistic full elastic guided wave model and the equivalent idealized acoustic model were passed to the imaging algorithms, generating wave speed maps, and, from these, thickness maps. For both datasets, ray tomography exhibited poor resolution. Diffraction tomography performed better, but was limited to shallow, small defects. The hybrid algorithm achieved the best results, giving a resolution around 1.5–2 wavelengths from the realistic test data compared to half wavelength from the idealized case. These results were validated with experimental data, and also extended to a realistic corrosion patch confirming the trends demonstrated with simple defects. The resolution loss with realistic data compared with idealized data indicates the acoustic model cannot accurately capture guided wave scattering and an alternative approach is necessary for better resolution reconstructions.
Huthwaite P, 2014, Accelerated finite element elastodynamic simulations using the GPU, Journal of Computational Physics, Vol: 257, Pages: 687-707, ISSN: 0021-9991
An approach is developed to perform explicit time domain finite element simulations of elastodynamic problems on the graphical processing unit, using Nvidiaʼs CUDA. Of critical importance for this problem is the arrangement of nodes in memory, allowing data to be loaded efficiently and minimising communication between the independently executed blocks of threads. The initial stage of memory arrangement is partitioning the mesh; both a well established ‘greedy’ partitioner and a new, more efficient ‘aligned’ partitioner are investigated. A method is then developed to efficiently arrange the memory within each partition. The software is applied to three models from the fields of non-destructive testing, vibrations and geophysics, demonstrating a memory bandwidth of very close to the cardʼs maximum, reflecting the bandwidth-limited nature of the algorithm. Comparison with Abaqus, a widely used commercial CPU equivalent, validated the accuracy of the results and demonstrated a speed improvement of around two orders of magnitude. A software package, Pogo, incorporating these developments, is released open source, downloadable from http://www.pogo-fea.com/ to benefit the community.
Cegla FB, Huthwaite PE, Lowe MJ, 2013, Inspection vs structural health monitoring: Manual ultrasonic thickness measurements compared to monitoring with permanently installed sensors., J Acoust Soc Am, Vol: 134
Corrosion is a major issue in industry and inspection and monitoring for wall thickness loss are important to assess the structural integrity of pipework and process vessels. Manual ultrasonic thickness measurements are widely used; however, they are also notoriously unreliable because of operator errors. Therefore, automated inspection scans and monitoring at fixed locations with permanently installed sensors are becoming more attractive; they help to remove some of the error introduced by operators. However, this raises the question of what the underlying uncertainties of automated ultrasonic wall thickness measurements are. A key contributor to the uncertainty is the surface roughness condition and the authors have been researching this topic for some time. This talk will give an overview of the physics of scattering of ultrasonic waves from rough corroded surfaces. The different scales of roughness will be discussed, and a simulation technique based on the Distributed Point Source Method (DPSM) to model the scattering and its experimental validation will be presented. The need for statistical results makes both the speed and accuracy of the simulation very important. Finally, based on the simulations, results of the estimated ultrasonic measurement errors due to roughness are presented.
Huthwaite P, Simonetti F, 2013, High-resolution guided wave tomography, WAVE MOTION, Vol: 50, Pages: 979-993, ISSN: 0165-2125
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