Papers by Banibrata Poddar
Bombay (IITB) for her guidance during my research at IITB which motivated me to pursue a career i... more Bombay (IITB) for her guidance during my research at IITB which motivated me to pursue a career in research. I would like to acknowledge my loving wife Anna-Marie for her patience and support. Without her this journey would not be possible. I would also like to acknowledge my father, Bikash Chandra and my mother Mira for their love and guidance of a life time.

Structural health monitoring (SHM) and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) deals with the nondestruct... more Structural health monitoring (SHM) and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) deals with the nondestructive inspection of defects, corrosion, leaks in engineering structures by using ultrasonic guided waves. In the past, simplistic structures were often considered for analyzing the guided wave interaction with the defects. In this study, we focused on more realistic and relatively complicated structure for detecting any defect by using a non-contact sensing approach. A plate with a stiffener was considered for analyzing the guided wave interactions. Piezoelectric wafer active transducers were used to produce excitation in the structures. The excitation generated the multimodal guided waves (aka Lamb waves) that propagate in the plate with stiffener. The presence of stiffener in the plate generated scattered waves. The direct wave and the additional scattered waves from the stiffener were experimentally recorded and studied. These waves were considered as a pristine case in this research. A fine horizontal semi-circular crack was manufactured by using electric discharge machining in the same stiffener. The presence of crack in the stiffener produces additional scattered waves as well as trapped waves. These scattered waves and trapped wave modes from the cracked stiffener were experimentally measured by using a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (SLDV). These waves were analyzed and compared with that from the pristine case. The analyses suggested that both size and shape of the horizontal crack may be predicted from the pattern of the scattered waves. Different features (reflection, transmission, and mode-conversion) of the scattered wave signals are analyzed. We found direct transmission feature for incident A0 wave mode and modeconversion feature for incident S0 mode are most suitable for detecting the crack in the stiffener. The reflection feature may give a better idea of sizing the crack.

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Sep 1, 2016
This paper presents an inexpensive but accurate analytical method to calculate the scattering of ... more This paper presents an inexpensive but accurate analytical method to calculate the scattering of straight-crested Lamb waves from cracks parallel to the plate surface. The same method is applicable for the disbond problem. In this method, the scatter field is expanded in terms of complex Lamb wave modes with unknown amplitudes. These unknown amplitudes are obtained from the boundary conditions using vector projection utilizing the power expression. The process works by projecting the stress conditions onto the displacement eigen-spaces of complex Lamb wave modes and vice versa. The authors call this technique "complex modes expansion with vector projection" (CMEP). The CMEP approach is versatile and can be readily applied to corrosion, cracks, or disbonds. In this paper, the CMEP method is applied to a horizontal crack in a plate. For verification of the results the authors compared them with the results obtained by using the finite element method (FEM) and literature. The FEM analysis was conducted in the frequency domain with non-reflecting boundaries. It was found that CMEP results correspond very well with FEM results over a wide frequency-thickness range up to 1.5 MHz mm with CMEP being orders of magnitude faster than FEM. V

Acta Mechanica, Nov 23, 2019
This paper addresses a forward problem using an analytical global-local (AGL) method based on the... more This paper addresses a forward problem using an analytical global-local (AGL) method based on the physics of the Lamb wave propagation in the presence of a crack in the complex structure which would be beneficial for the inverse problem of damage detection. Discontinuity in a structure acts as a damage source and interacts with a Lamb wave. The global analytical solution determines the wave generation by a transmitter, wave propagation through the structure, and detection by a receiver. The local analytical solution determines the scattering coefficients for the Lamb waves at the discontinuity location. These frequency-dependent scatter coefficients are calculated considering transmission, reflection, and mode conversion. An analytical method called "complex mode expansion with vector projection (CMEP)" is used to calculate the scattering coefficients of Lamb wave modes from geometric discontinuities. The scattered wave field from a discontinuity is expanded in terms of complex Lamb wave modes with unknown scatter coefficients. These unknown coefficients are obtained from the boundary conditions using a vector projection utilizing the power expression. Two test cases are considered in this paper: (a) a plate with a pristine stiffener and (b) a plate with a cracked stiffener. Complexvalued scattering coefficients are calculated from 50 to 350 kHz for S0 incident waves. Scatter coefficients are compared for both cases to identify the suitable frequency range to excite a Lamb wave to detect the crack. The frequency-dependent complex-valued scattering coefficients are then inserted into the global analytical model. Therefore, in combination AGL method provides the exact analytical Lamb wave solution for the simulation of Lamb wave propagation and interaction with a discontinuity. By comparing the waveforms for both pristine stiffener and cracked stiffener, the crack can be detected. An FEM transient analysis was also performed to calculate the scattered wave signals. FEM results agree well with the AGL predicted results. An experiment was also performed to validate the AGL result. The obtained experimental results match well with the CMEP analytical predictions. The present AGL method is a highly computationally efficient simulation approach which allows performing virtual experiments for structural health monitoring applications. Development of a highly efficient computational model for guided wave propagation and interaction with damage is in urgent need of structural health monitoring (SHM) applications . To design an effective SHM system, researchers need to explore a wide range of parameters, which is a time-consuming and high-cost procedure with conventional computational techniques. Therefore, this research focuses on developing a highly computationally efficient simulation approach to predict the scattering of Lamb waves for detecting a crack

Smart Materials and Structures, Nov 26, 2018
This paper presents an experimental validation of an analytical method called complex mode expans... more This paper presents an experimental validation of an analytical method called complex mode expansion with vector projection (CMEP), which is used to calculate the scattering coefficients (amplitude of the out-of-plane velocity) of Lamb wave modes from geometric discontinuities. For a test case, a plate with a thickness step change type geometric discontinuity is considered in this paper. The scattered wave fields from the discontinuity are expanded in terms of complex Lamb wave modes with unknown scatter coefficients. These unknown coefficients are obtained by projecting the stress or displacement boundary conditions on the displacement or stress boundary conditions utilizing the power expression. In the analytical analysis, complex-valued scatter coefficients are calculated with frequency-thickness product from 50 to 1500 kHz mm for A0 incident wave. A parametric study was conducted using CMEP to find the optimized step depth ratio for the experiment. For incident A0 mode at step depth ratio of 0.6, the scattering coefficients of reflected and transmitted S0 modes are maximum. A plate of thickness 4.86 mm with a step depth ratio of 0.6 was chosen for experimental study. Long piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) were used to create straight crested Lamb wave modes. Antisymmetric Lamb wave mode selectively excited by using two PWAS in out of phase on opposite sides of the plate. Scanning laser Doppler vibrometer was used to measure the out-of-plane velocity of scattered Lamb wave fields on the plate. Scatter coefficients were calculated from Fourier transform of the time domain signal. The obtained experimental results agree well with the CMEP analytical predictions.

Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation, May 20, 2017
This paper presents a study to understand the physical nature of fatigue crack growth as an acous... more This paper presents a study to understand the physical nature of fatigue crack growth as an acoustic emission source and detectability of the crack length form the recorded acoustic emission signal in plate structures. For most of the thin walled engineering structures, the acoustic emission detection through sensor network has been well established. However, the majority of the research is focused on prediction of the acoustic emission due to fatigue crack growth using stochastic methods. Where, stochastic models are used to predict the criticality of the damage. The scope of this research is to use predictive simulation method for acoustic emission signals and extract the damage related information from acoustic emission signals based on physics of material. This approach is in contrast with the traditional approach involving statistics of acoustic emissions and their relation with damage criticality. In this article, first, we present our approach to understand fatigue crack growth as source of acoustic emission using physics of guided wave propagation in FEM. Then, using this physical understanding, we present our investigation on detectability of crack lengths directly from crack-generated acoustic emission signals. Finally, we present our method to extract fatigue crack length information from acoustic emission signals recorded during fatigue crack growth.
The goal of a structural health monitoring system is to implement processes to detect and charact... more The goal of a structural health monitoring system is to implement processes to detect and characterize damages in engineering structures. These systems may use many different physical phenomena to detect and characterize damages. One of these phenomena is elastic wave propagation in thin plate like structures, known as Lamb wave propagation. To develop a SHM (structural health monitoring) system based on Lamb wave propagation we first need to understand how Lamb waves interact with different damage types. The aim of this study is to develop an understanding of how Lamb waves interact with different types of damages using analytical modeling and FEM. The goal is to identify and characterize a surface breaking crack by understanding its effect on Lamb waves scattered from it. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/75

Nondestructive Characterization and Monitoring of Advanced Materials, Aerospace, Civil Infrastructure, and Transportation XII, 2018
Structural health monitoring (SHM) and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) deals with the nondestruct... more Structural health monitoring (SHM) and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) deals with the nondestructive inspection of defects, corrosion, leaks in engineering structures by using ultrasonic guided waves. In the past, simplistic structures were often considered for analyzing the guided wave interaction with the defects. In this study, we focused on more realistic and relatively complicated structure for detecting any defect by using a non-contact sensing approach. A plate with a stiffener was considered for analyzing the guided wave interactions. Piezoelectric wafer active transducers were used to produce excitation in the structures. The excitation generated the multimodal guided waves (aka Lamb waves) that propagate in the plate with stiffener. The presence of stiffener in the plate generated scattered waves. The direct wave and the additional scattered waves from the stiffener were experimentally recorded and studied. These waves were considered as a pristine case in this research. A fine horizontal semi-circular crack was manufactured by using electric discharge machining in the same stiffener. The presence of crack in the stiffener produces additional scattered waves as well as trapped waves. These scattered waves and trapped wave modes from the cracked stiffener were experimentally measured by using a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (SLDV). These waves were analyzed and compared with that from the pristine case. The analyses suggested that both size and shape of the horizontal crack may be predicted from the pattern of the scattered waves. Different features (reflection, transmission, and mode-conversion) of the scattered wave signals are analyzed. We found direct transmission feature for incident A0 wave mode and modeconversion feature for incident S0 mode are most suitable for detecting the crack in the stiffener. The reflection feature may give a better idea of sizing the crack.

Structural health monitoring (SHM) and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods rely on the interp... more Structural health monitoring (SHM) and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods rely on the interpretation of ultrasonic signals. These ultrasonic signals may result from the passive capture of the acoustic emission (AE) waves emitted by a crack or from the waves scattered by the crack during an active interrogation of the structure. Current AE signal interpretation methods can identify AE events, count their rate of appearance, and even locate their location using multiple sensors and a triangulation method. To evaluate the crack size, an active SHM method is employed to relate the scatter signals with the crack size. No method to extract the crack size from the AE signals collected during passive SHM exists at the moment. In this paper, we suggest a novel approach aimed at connecting the crack length to certain signature features that may be identified in the AE signal. One of the main challenges of this approach is to develop a physics of materials based understanding of the gener...

Acta Mechanica, 2019
This paper addresses a forward problem using an analytical global-local (AGL) method based on the... more This paper addresses a forward problem using an analytical global-local (AGL) method based on the physics of the Lamb wave propagation in the presence of a crack in the complex structure which would be beneficial for the inverse problem of damage detection. Discontinuity in a structure acts as a damage source and interacts with a Lamb wave. The global analytical solution determines the wave generation by a transmitter, wave propagation through the structure, and detection by a receiver. The local analytical solution determines the scattering coefficients for the Lamb waves at the discontinuity location. These frequency-dependent scatter coefficients are calculated considering transmission, reflection, and mode conversion. An analytical method called "complex mode expansion with vector projection (CMEP)" is used to calculate the scattering coefficients of Lamb wave modes from geometric discontinuities. The scattered wave field from a discontinuity is expanded in terms of complex Lamb wave modes with unknown scatter coefficients. These unknown coefficients are obtained from the boundary conditions using a vector projection utilizing the power expression. Two test cases are considered in this paper: (a) a plate with a pristine stiffener and (b) a plate with a cracked stiffener. Complexvalued scattering coefficients are calculated from 50 to 350 kHz for S0 incident waves. Scatter coefficients are compared for both cases to identify the suitable frequency range to excite a Lamb wave to detect the crack. The frequency-dependent complex-valued scattering coefficients are then inserted into the global analytical model. Therefore, in combination AGL method provides the exact analytical Lamb wave solution for the simulation of Lamb wave propagation and interaction with a discontinuity. By comparing the waveforms for both pristine stiffener and cracked stiffener, the crack can be detected. An FEM transient analysis was also performed to calculate the scattered wave signals. FEM results agree well with the AGL predicted results. An experiment was also performed to validate the AGL result. The obtained experimental results match well with the CMEP analytical predictions. The present AGL method is a highly computationally efficient simulation approach which allows performing virtual experiments for structural health monitoring applications. Development of a highly efficient computational model for guided wave propagation and interaction with damage is in urgent need of structural health monitoring (SHM) applications . To design an effective SHM system, researchers need to explore a wide range of parameters, which is a time-consuming and high-cost procedure with conventional computational techniques. Therefore, this research focuses on developing a highly computationally efficient simulation approach to predict the scattering of Lamb waves for detecting a crack
Journal of Sound and Vibration, 2018

Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation, 2017
This paper presents a study to understand the physical nature of fatigue crack growth as an acous... more This paper presents a study to understand the physical nature of fatigue crack growth as an acoustic emission source and detectability of the crack length form the recorded acoustic emission signal in plate structures. For most of the thin walled engineering structures, the acoustic emission detection through sensor network has been well established. However, the majority of the research is focused on prediction of the acoustic emission due to fatigue crack growth using stochastic methods. Where, stochastic models are used to predict the criticality of the damage. The scope of this research is to use predictive simulation method for acoustic emission signals and extract the damage related information from acoustic emission signals based on physics of material. This approach is in contrast with the traditional approach involving statistics of acoustic emissions and their relation with damage criticality. In this article, first, we present our approach to understand fatigue crack growth as source of acoustic emission using physics of guided wave propagation in FEM. Then, using this physical understanding, we present our investigation on detectability of crack lengths directly from crack-generated acoustic emission signals. Finally, we present our method to extract fatigue crack length information from acoustic emission signals recorded during fatigue crack growth.

Nondestructive Characterization and Monitoring of Advanced Materials, Aerospace, and Civil Infrastructure 2016, 2016
Lamb wave propagation is at the center of attention of researchers for structural health monitori... more Lamb wave propagation is at the center of attention of researchers for structural health monitoring of thin walled structures. This is due to the fact that Lamb wave modes are natural modes of wave propagation in these structures with long travel distances and without much attenuation. This brings the prospect of monitoring large structure with few sensors/actuators. However the problem of damage detection and identification is an "inverse problem" where we do not have the luxury to know the exact mathematical model of the system. On top of that the problem is more challenging due to the confounding factors of statistical variation of the material and geometric properties. Typically this problem may also be ill posed. Due to all these complexities the direct solution of the problem of damage detection and identification in SHM is impossible. Therefore an indirect method using the solution of the "forward problem" is popular for solving the "inverse problem". This requires a fast forward problem solver. Due to the complexities involved with the forward problem of scattering of Lamb waves from damages researchers rely primarily on numerical techniques such as FEM, BEM, etc. But these methods are slow and practically impossible to be used in structural health monitoring. We have developed a fast and accurate analytical forward problem solver for this purpose. This solver, CMEP (complex modes expansion and vector projection), can simulate scattering of Lamb waves from all types of damages in thin walled structures fast and accurately to assist the inverse problem solver.
Wave Motion, 2016
Highlights of the research presented in the manuscript titled "Scattering of Lamb Waves from a Di... more Highlights of the research presented in the manuscript titled "Scattering of Lamb Waves from a Discontinuity: An Improved Analytical Approach" are: An analytical model (CMEP) was created to predict scattered Lamb waves from a damage CMEP method is illustrated using the benchmark step problem CMEP verified the results from axial-flexural wave model at low frequencies CMEP and FEM results agreed very well, while CMEP being orders of magnitude faster CMEP predicted the scattered wave field over a wide range of frequencies *Research Highlights

Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems 2017, 2017
Acoustic emission (AE) monitoring technique is a well-known approach in the field of NDE/SHM. AE ... more Acoustic emission (AE) monitoring technique is a well-known approach in the field of NDE/SHM. AE monitoring from the defect formation and failure in the materials were well studied by the researchers. However, conventional AE monitoring techniques are predominantly based on statistical analysis. In this study we focus on understanding the AE waveforms from the fatigue crack growth using physics based approach. The growth of the fatigue crack causes the acoustic emission in the material that propagates in the structure. One of the main challenges of this approach is to develop the physics based understanding of the AE source itself. The acoustic emission happens not only from the crack growth but also from the interaction of the crack lips during fatigue loading of the materials. As the waveforms are generated from the AE event, they propagate and create local vibration modes along the crack faces. Fatigue experiments were performed to generate the fatigue cracks. Several test specimens were used in the fatigue experiments and corresponding AE waveforms were captured. The AE waveforms were analyzed and distinguished into different groups based on the similar nature on both time domain and frequency domain. The experimental results are explained based on the physical observation of the specimen.

Structural Health Monitoring, 2017
In this study, we focus on analyzing the acoustic emission waveforms of the fatigue crack growth ... more In this study, we focus on analyzing the acoustic emission waveforms of the fatigue crack growth despite the conventional statistics-based analysis of acoustic emission. The acoustic emission monitoring technique is a well-known approach in the non-destructive evaluation/structural health monitoring research field. The growth of the fatigue crack causes the acoustic emission in the material that propagates in the structure. The acoustic emission happens not only from the crack growth but also from the interaction of the crack tips during the fatigue loading in the structure. The acoustic emission waveforms are generated from the acoustic emission events; they propagate and create local vibration modes along the crack faces (crack resonance). In-situ fatigue and acoustic emission experiments were conducted to monitor the acoustic emission waveforms from the fatigue cracks. Several test specimens were used in the fatigue experiments, and corresponding acoustic emission waveforms were ...

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2016
This paper presents an inexpensive but accurate analytical method to calculate the scattering of ... more This paper presents an inexpensive but accurate analytical method to calculate the scattering of straight-crested Lamb waves from cracks parallel to the plate surface. The same method is applicable for the disbond problem. In this method, the scatter field is expanded in terms of complex Lamb wave modes with unknown amplitudes. These unknown amplitudes are obtained from the boundary conditions using vector projection utilizing the power expression. The process works by projecting the stress conditions onto the displacement eigen-spaces of complex Lamb wave modes and vice versa. The authors call this technique "complex modes expansion with vector projection" (CMEP). The CMEP approach is versatile and can be readily applied to corrosion, cracks, or disbonds. In this paper, the CMEP method is applied to a horizontal crack in a plate. For verification of the results the authors compared them with the results obtained by using the finite element method (FEM) and literature. The...
Smart Structures and Systems, 2015

Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems 2016, 2016
Acoustic emission (AE) caused by the growth of fatigue crack were well studied by researchers. Co... more Acoustic emission (AE) caused by the growth of fatigue crack were well studied by researchers. Conventional approaches predominantly are based on statistical analysis. In this study we focus on identifying geometric features of the crack from the AE signals using physics based approach. One of the main challenges of this approach is to develop a physics of materials based understanding of the generation and propagation of acoustic emissions due to the growth of a fatigue crack. As the geometry changes due to the crack growth, so does the local vibration modes around the crack. Our aim is to understand these changing local vibration modes and find possible relation between the AE signal features and the geometric features of the crack. Finite element (FE) analysis was used to model AE events due to fatigue crack growth. This was done using dipole excitation at the crack tips. Harmonic analysis was also performed on these FE models to understand the local vibration modes. Experimental study was carried out to verify these results. Piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) were used to excite cracked specimen and the local vibration modes were captured using laser Doppler vibrometry. The preliminary results show that the AE signals do carry the information related to the crack geometry.

Volume 6A: Materials and Fabrication, 2015
Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensors (PWAS) are a viable option for monitoring the structural integ... more Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensors (PWAS) are a viable option for monitoring the structural integrity of pressure vessels and piping systems. They are inexpensive, small and unobtrusive sensors which can be permanently attached to structures for long term monitoring without interfering with operations, such as operating in areas with limited head space. PWAS are used to inspect the structure through several methods which include; pitch catch or pulse echo wave propagation, and electromechanical impedance spectroscopy. Since the PWAS could be exposed to a range of environmental and/or operating conditions while attached to the structure, the change in the properties and electromechanical characteristics of the sensor must be known at a given condition. Accordingly, there is a need for a testing system which can measure the PWAS properties while exposing the sensor to a wide range of temperatures. The focus in this paper is on elevated temperatures, but the same methodology could be u...
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Papers by Banibrata Poddar