Determination of embedment depth of timber poles and piles using wavelet transform

This paper presents an investigation on the wave propagation in timber poles with Wavelet Transform (WT) analysis for identification of the condition and underground depth of embedded timber poles in service. Most of non-destructive testing (NDT) applications for timber poles using wave-based methods consider only single wave mode and no dispersion. However, for wave propagations in timber poles (damaged/undamaged), such simplification may not be correct, especially for broad band excitation using impulse impact. To investigate the problem, a 5m timber pole was investigated numerically and experimentally. A dispersion curve is generated from the numerical results to provide guidance on the velocity and wave mode selection. Continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is applied on the same signal to verify the presence of modes and to process data from experimental testing. The results are presented in both time domain and time-frequency domain for comparison. The results of the investigation showed that, wavelet transform analysis can be a reliable signal processing tool for NDT in terms of condition and embedment length determination.

Foot mucus is a good source for non-destructive genetic sampling in polyplacophora

A non-destructive method for collecting samples for DNA analysis from the mucus of molluscs was successfully adapted for use with the genus Ischnochiton. DNA was extracted using a Chelex-based method and the COI subunit of the mtDNA was amplified and sequenced. Sequences from the mucus were crosschecked against sequences from the foot tissue of the same animal and were found to be identical. This method provides a non-destructive way of carrying out larger studies of the genetics of rare organisms and may be of general use for genetic-based field studies of molluscs.

Non-nested tests of a GDP-augmented Fama–French model versus a conditional Fama–French model in the Australian stock market

We extend Vassalou (2003) by conditioning the Fama–French model with the same macroeconomic variables used to construct a GDP factor. The motivation for doing so is to ascertain whether the ability of the GDP-augmented model to explain equity returns is actually due to news about future GDP growth or whether it is due to the macroeconomic conditioning variables used to construct the GDP factor. We compare the performance of a GDP-enhanced Fama–French model with the conditional Fama–French model using non-nested testing techniques. We find that the GDP-augmented model considerably underperforms the conditional version of the model.

A non-destructive test to assess the axial heterogeneity of in situ modified monoliths for HPLC

This paper describes a non-destructive "peak parking" protocol in order to assess the axial heterogeneity of an in situ modified monolithic column for high performance liquid chromatography; a "gradient stationary phase" was designed whereby the ligand density decreases along the length of the rod in the "forward flow" configuration. The results of multi-location peak parking demonstrated a consistent increase in peak variance from the 1 cm position of the column to the 9 cm location. This increase in band broadening supported the theory of a decreasing ligand density along the length of this gradient column. This is consistent with efficiency measurements performed in both the forward and reverse flow directions, with an improved efficiency (15% increase in N m^-1) in the reverse direction. These results are consistent with theoretical investigations into stationary phase gradients.

Condition assessment of timber utility poles based on a hierarchical data fusion model

This paper proposes a novel hierarchical data fusion technique for the non-destructive testing (NDT) and condition assessment of timber utility poles. The new method analyzes stress wave data from multisensor and multiexcitation guided wave testing using a hierarchical data fusion model consisting of feature extraction, data compression, pattern recognition, and decision fusion algorithms. The researchers validate the proposed technique using guided wave tests of a sample of in situ timber poles. The actual health states of these poles are known from autopsies conducted after the testing, forming a ground-truth for supervised classification. In the proposed method, a data fusion level extracts the main features from the sampled stress wave signals using power spectrum density (PSD) estimation, wavelet packet transform (WPT), and empirical mode decomposition (EMD). These features are then compiled to a feature vector via real-number encoding and sent to the next level for further processing. Principal component analysis (PCA) is also adopted for feature compression and to minimize information redundancy and noise interference. In the feature fusion level, two classifiers based on support vector machine (SVM) are applied to sensor separated data of the two excitation types and the pole condition is identified. In the decision making fusion level, the Dempster–Shafer (D-S) evidence theory is employed to integrate the results from the individual sensors obtaining a final decision. The results of the in situ timber pole testing show that the proposed hierarchical data fusion model was able to distinguish between healthy and faulty poles, demonstrating the effectiveness of the new method.

Separation of longitudinal and flexural wave in a cylindrical structure based on sensor arrangement for non-destructive evaluation

Low strain integrity testing is commonly used to assess the in situ condition of the poles or piles. For poles, it is important to calculate the embedment length and location of damage which is highly influenced by the accurate determination of the wave velocity. In general, depending on impact location and orientation, both longitudinal and bending waves may generate inside the pole, and these two waves have very distinct characteristics and wave velocity. These differences are even more prominent in the low frequency which is usually induced in the low strain non-destructive testing. Consequently, it will be useful if these two waves can be separated for the condition assessment of the poles. In this paper, a numerical analysis is performed on a pole considering that both waves are generated, and a method is proposed to differentiate these two waves based on an appropriate sensor arrangement that includes the location and the orientation of the sensors. Continuous wavelet transform is applied on the numerical signal to calculate the phase velocity of the waves and compared with analytical phase velocity curves. From the results, it can be seen that appropriate location and orientation of the sensors can separate the longitudinal and flexural waves as they match significantly well with the corresponding analytical phase velocity curves of these two waves.

A comparative study of guided wave propagation in timber poles with isotropic and transversely isotropic material models

Guided wave (GW) has been used for many years in non-destructive testing (NDT). There are various ways to generate the guided wave, including impact or impulse either manually or using devices. Although the method of impact or impulse is considered to be simple and practical in guided wave generation, it produces waves with broadband frequencies, which often make analysis much more difficult. The frequency bandwidth produced by manual impacts is usually at the low end, and is therefore justified when dealing with one dimensional wave propagation assumption in low strain integrity testing of cylindrical structures. Under such assumption if the velocity is known accurately, NDTs can produce reasonably good results for the condition assessment of the structure. However, for guided wave propagation in timber pole-like structures, it is rather complicated as timber is an orthotropic material and wave propagation in an orthotropic medium exhibits different characteristics from that in isotropic medium. It is possible to obtain solutions for guided wave propagation in orthotropic media for cylindrical structures, even though the orthotropic material greatly complicates GW propagation. In this paper, timber has been considered as a transversely isotropic (i.e. simplified orthotropic) material and a comparative study of GW propagation in a timber pole is conducted considering isotropic and transversely isotropic modelling. Phase velocity, group velocity and attenuation are the main parameters for this comparative study. Moreover, tractionfree situation and embedded geotechnical condition are also taken into consideration to evaluate the effect of boundary. Displacement profile, wave propagation pattern and power flow at particular frequency are utilized to determine different displacement components of longitudinal and flexural waves along and across the timber pole. Effect of temperature and moisture content (in terms of modulus of elasticity) in timber pole is also compared to show the variation in phase velocity.

Determination of the embedded lengths of electricity timber poles utilizing flexural wave generated from impacts

Round timbers are extensively used as utility poles in Australia for electricity distribution and communication. Lack of information on their conditions results in great difficulties on asset management for industries. Despite the development of various non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques for evaluating the condition of piles, few NDTs are reported for applications on timber poles. This paper addresses challenges and issues on development of NDTs for condition assessment and embedded length of timber poles. For this paper, it is mainly focusing on determining the embedded length of the pole considering loss of the sufficient embedment length is a main factor compromising capacity and safety of timber poles. Since it is impractical for generating longitudinal waves by impacting from the top of poles, utilizing flexural wave from side impact on poles becomes attractive. However, the flexural wave is known by its highly dispersive nature. In this paper, one dimensional wave theory, guided wave theory and advanced signal processing techniques have been introduced in order to provide a solution for the problem. Two signal processing techniques, namely short kernel method and continuous wavelet transform, have been investigated for processing flexural wave signals to evaluate wave velocity and embedment length of timber poles in service.

Effect of elastic modulus and poisson's ratio on guided wave dispersion using transversely isotropic material modelling

Timber poles are commonly used for telecommunication and power distribution networks, wharves or jetties, piling or as a substructure of short span bridges. Most of the available techniques currently used for non-destructive testing (NDT) of timber structures are based on one-dimensional wave theory. If it is essential to detect small sized damage, it becomes necessary to consider guided wave (GW) propagation as the behaviour of different propagating modes cannot be represented by one-dimensional approximations. However, due to the orthotropic material properties of timber, the modelling of guided waves can be complex. No analytical solution can be found for plotting dispersion curves for orthotropic thick cylindrical waveguides even though very few literatures can be found on the theory of GW for anisotropic cylindrical waveguide. In addition, purely numerical approaches are available for solving these curves. In this paper, dispersion curves for orthotropic cylinders are computed using the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) and compared with an isotropic material model to indicate the importance of considering timber as an anisotropic material. Moreover, some simplification is made on orthotropic behaviour of timber to make it transversely isotropic due to the fact that, analytical approaches for transversely isotropic cylinder are widely available in the literature. Also, the applicability of considering timber as a transversely isotropic material is discussed. As an orthotropic material, most material testing results of timber found in the literature include 9 elastic constants (three elastic moduli and six Poisson's ratios), hence it is essential to select the appropriate material properties for transversely isotropic material which includes only 5 elastic constants. Therefore, comparison between orthotropic and transversely isotropic material model is also presented in this article to reveal the effect of elastic moduli and Poisson's ratios on dispersion curves. Based on this study, some suggestions are proposed on selecting the parameters from an orthotropic model to transversely isotropic condition.

Determinations of stress wave velocity in a timber pole using wavelet transform

This paper presents an application of Wavelet Transfonn (WT) for determination of stress wave velocity for Non-destructive Testing of timber utility poles in service. For surface Non-destructive Testing (NDT), the hammer impact, which produces generally broadband frequency excitation, is used to generate stress wave. Moreover, due to practicality the impact location for field testing of a utility pole is on the side of the pole and 1.5 m above ground level. And the geometry of utility pole could not guarantee non-dispersive longitudinal wave. All of these issues have resulted in lack of accuracy and reliability of results from surface NDT in field testing. In recognition of such problem, this research explores methods to reliably calculate desired wave velocity by isolating wave mode and studying dispersive nature of utility pole. Fast Fourier Transfonn (FFT) is firstly conducted to determine the suitable frequency from a stress wave data. Then WT is applied on the wave data mentioned to perfonn time-frequency analysis. Velocity can be detennined by time history data of desired frequency from WT results which will be compared with the available analytical solution for longitudinal wave velocity. The results of the investigation showed that wavelet transfonn analysis can be a reliable signal processing tool for non-destructive testing in tenns of velocity detennination, which in tum also helps to detennine the embedded length of the timber pole.

Depth-profile analysis of elements by glow discharge optical emmission specrometry

Glow-discharge optical emission spectrometry (GD-OES) is a powerful tool for the rapid analysis of elements in the surface of solids. One may employ GD-OES to determine quantitatively the bulk concentration of elements in a sample. With further calibration, one may also obtain elemental concentrations as a function of depth into the sample. This allows depth profiling on a host of advanced materials: treated metals, coated metals and other materials, multi-layers, painted surfaces, hard samples coated with polymers, thin films, and many others.

A consortium of institutions in Victoria, led by Deakin University, has purchased a new glow-discharge optical emission spectrometer. This instrument has the ability to perform elemental depth profiling on a wide range of materials. This technique, the first of its kind in Australia, is of particular interest to those working on metals, ceramics, glasses, coatings, semi-conductors, and multi-layers. We present here an overview of depth profiling by GD-OES and some examples of its use.

Predicting the resistance of fired clay bricks to salt attack

The salt attack of Fired Clay Bricks (FCBs) causes surface damage that is aesthetically displeasing and eventually leads to structural damage. Methods for determining the resistances of FCBs to salt weathering have mainly tried to simulate the process by using accelerating aging tests. Most research in this area has concentrated on the types of salt that can cause damage and the damage that occurs during accelerated aging tests. This approach has lead to the use of accelerated aging tests as standard methods for determining resistance. Recently, it has been acknowledged that are not the most reliable way to determine salt attack resistance for all FCBs in all environments. Few researchers have examined FCBs with the aim of determining which material and mechanical properties make a FCB resistant to salt attack. The aim of this study was to identify the properties that were significant to the resistance of FCBs to salt attack. In doing so, this study aids in the development of a better test method to assess the resistance of FCBs to salt attack. The current Australian Standard accelerated aging test was used to measure the resistance of eight FCBs to salt attack using sodium sulfate and sodium chloride. The results of these tests were compared to the water absorption properties and the total porosity of FCBs. An empirical relationship was developed between the twenty-four-hour water absorption value and the number of cycles to failure from sodium sulfate tests. The volume of sodium chloride solution was found to be proportional to the total porosity of FCBs in this study. A phenomenological discussion of results led to a new mechanism being presented to explain the derivation of stress during salt crystallisation of anhydrous and hydratable salts. The mechanical properties of FCBs were measured using compression tests. FCBs were analysed as cellular materials to find that the elastic modules of FCBs was equivalent for extruded FCBs that had been fired a similar temperatures and time. Two samples were found to have significantly different elastic moduli of the solid microstructure. One of these samples was a pressed brick that was stiffer due to the extra bond that is obtained during sintering a closely packed structure. The other sample was an extruded brick that had more firing temperature and time compared with the other samples in this study. A non-destructive method was used to measure the indentation hardness and indentation stress-strain properties of FCBs. The indentation hardness of FCBs was found to be proportional to the uniaxial compression strength. In addition, the indentation hardness had a better linear correlation to the total porosity of FCBs except for those samples that had different elastic moduli of the solid microstructure. Fractography of exfoliated particles during salt cycle tests and compression tests showed there was a similar pattern of fracture during each failure. The results indicate there were inherent properties of a FCB that determines the size and shape of fractured particles during salt attack. The microstructural variables that determined the fracture properties of FCBs were shown to be important variables to include in future models that attempt to estimate the resistance of FCBs to salt attack.

Crack damage in polymers and composites: a review

Polymer-based materials are extensively used in various applications such as aircrafts, civilian structures, oil and gas platforms and electronics. They are, however, inherently damage prone and over time, the formation of cracks and microscopic damages influences the thermo-mechanical and electrical properties, which eventually results in the total failure of the materials. This paper provides an overview of the principal causes of cracking in polymer and composites and summarizes the recent progress in the development of non-destructive techniques in crack detection. Furthermore, recent progress in the development of bio-inspired self-healing methods in autonomic repair is discussed.

Mathematical modelling of the refractive index reconstruction through global optimization

We examine a mathematical model of non-destructive testing of planar waveguides, based on numerical solution of a nonlinear integral equation. Such problem is ill-posed, and the method of Tikhonov regularization is applied. To minimize Tikhonov functional, and find the parameters of the waveguide, we use two new optimization methods: the cutting angle method of global optimization, and the discrete gradient method of nonsmooth local optimization. We examine how the noise in the experimental data influences the solution, and how the regularization parameter has to be chosen. We show that even with significant noise in the data, the numerical solution is of high accuracy, and the method can be used to process real experimental da.ta..