Experimental validation of nondestructive damage detection of a 1/32" surface crack in a #6 and #9 size welded rebar splice

Abstract

The objective of this study is to experimentally verify that a 1/32 inch surface crack can be detected nondestructively using an existing nondestructive damage detection method developed at Texas A&M University. To accomplish this objective the following four tasks are performed. First, an appropriate specimen length is determined experimentally. Second in order to prevent spatial aliasing, the slumber of impact locations and placement of an accelerometer are determined. Next, mode shapes for the baseline structures are experimentally determined. Next, flaws ranging from 0.5 mm to 1 / 8 inches (3.2 mm) are inflicted in the specimen and mode shapes for the damaged structure are measured. Finally, the nondestructive damage detection (NDD) algorithm developed at Texas A&M University is used to localize the inflicted damage.