Nonlinear Lamb Wave for Structural Incipient Defect Detection with Sequential Probabilistic Ratio Test

Abstract

The incipient defect is difficult to be identified by ultrasonic signal analysis. The nonlinear ultrasonic method based on the nonlinear Lamb wave principle is proposed by establishing a nonlinear Lamb wave ultrasonic inspection platform. The optimal Lamb wave parameters are obtained for the incipient fatigue material defects. The aluminum alloy board with 3 mm thickness under the different fatigue tensile cycles is tested. The nonlinear ultrasonic signals are analyzed to obtain second harmonic signals. The intelligent diagnosis method for incipient material degrade is proposed based on the Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT). The sequential probabilistic ratio test (SPRT) algorithm is carried out to classify and identify the second harmonics of four different fatigue damages. The results show that the method about with nonlinear Lamb wave analysis with SPRT is effective and reliable for the incipient material microdefect degradation.