Danny Van Hemelrijck

Measurements of Thermal Properties of Carbon/Epoxy and Glass/Epoxy using Modulated Temperature Differential Scanning Calorimetry

Major potential of composite materials relies in the nonlinear behavior triggered by their inhomogeneous nature. Particularly in heat diffusion, composite materials present a high variation of thermal properties as a function of temperature. Therefore, the spectrum of a propagating thermal wave can contain higher harmonics of the excitation frequency. The amplitude of these harmonics depends on the range of temperatures developed inside the material. This study is focused on the mathematical formulation of the relationship between thermal properties and temperature. To this end, the heat capacity and the thermal conductivity of Carbon/Epoxy and Glass/Epoxy cross-ply laminates were determined in a temperature range of interest for the aircraft industry using an ASTM method based on Modulated Temperature Differential Scanning Calorimetry. The results are indispensable toward a nonlinear treatment of heat diffusion phenomena and the respective exploitation for nondestructive testing.

Shear stress sensing with Bragg grating-based sensors in microstructured optical fibers.

We demonstrate shear stress sensing with a Bragg grating-based microstructured optical fiber sensor embedded in a single lap adhesive joint. We achieved an unprecedented shear stress sensitivity of 59.8 pm/MPa when the joint is loaded in tension. This corresponds to a shear strain sensitivity of 0.01 pm/µε. We verified these results with 2D and 3D finite element modeling. A comparative FEM study with conventional highly birefringent side-hole and bow-tie fibers shows that our dedicated fiber design yields a fourfold sensitivity improvement.

Crack sealing and damage recovery monitoring of a concrete healing system using embedded piezoelectric transducers

The autonomous healing performance of concrete is experimentally verified by applying a technique based on the ultrasonic pulse velocity method using embedded piezoelectric transducers. Crack opening which deteriorates the mechanical capacity of concrete infrastructure is traditionally studied by different monitoring techniques that adequately provide a direct estimation of damage. Conversely in this research, an ultrasonic pulse velocity method is applied in order to monitor the crack closure and sealing of small-scale concrete beam elements. Short glass capsules filled with healing adhesive break due to crack formation and release those healing additives which fill the crack void and reset the element continuity. The damage index based on the early part of the wave arrival observes any emitted signal shape differentiation indicating the crack formation and development under two-cycle three-point bending loading tests (in the first cycle, the crack forms and healing release takes place, and consequently, after few hours of curing and crack reset, the beam is reloaded leading to crack reopening).

Evaluation of SHM System Produced by Additive Manufacturing via Acoustic Emission and Other NDT Methods

During the last decades, structural health monitoring (SHM) systems are used in order to detect damage in structures. We have developed a novel structural health monitoring approach, the so-called “effective structural health monitoring” (eSHM) system. The current SHM system is incorporated into a metallic structure by means of additive manufacturing (AM) and has the possibility to advance life safety and reduce direct operative costs. It operates based on a network of capillaries that are integrated into an AM structure. The internal pressure of the capillaries is continuously monitored by a pressure sensor. When a crack nucleates and reaches the capillary, the internal pressure changes signifying the existence of the flaw. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the crack detection capacity of the eSHM system and crack location accuracy by means of various non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques. During this study, detailed acoustic emission (AE) analysis was applied in AM materials for the first time in order to investigate if phenomena like the Kaiser effect and waveform parameters used in conventional metals can offer valuable insight into the damage accumulation of the AM structure as well. Liquid penetrant inspection, eddy current and radiography were also used in order to confirm the fatigue damage and indicate the damage location on un-notched four-point bending AM metallic specimens with an integrated eSHM system. It is shown that the eSHM system in combination with NDT can provide correct information on the damage condition of additive manufactured metals.

Full-field imaging of nonclassical acoustic nonlinearity

The feasibility of full field shearographic detection of nonclassical acoustic nonlinearity is investigated. Traditional frequency analysis of the sinusoidally excited sample, as used in scanning techniques, turns out to be not practical due to the inherent optical detection nonlinearity of the shearography system itself. An alternative method, based on determining the asymmetry between shearographic images stroboscopically obtained for positive and negative displacements, is proposed. This approach allows us to easily and rapidly detect the tension-compression asymmetry which typically arises where nonbounded contact interface defects are present.

A Novel Design of Autonomously Healed Concrete: Towards a Vascular Healing Network

Concrete is prone to crack formation in the tensile zone, which is why steel reinforcement is introduced in these zones. However, small cracks could still arise, which give liquids and gasses access to the reinforcement causing it to corrode. Self-healing concrete repairs and seals these small (300 µm) cracks, preventing the development of corrosion. In this study, a vascular system, carrying the healing agent, is developed. It consists of tubes connected to a 3D printed distribution piece. This distribution piece has four outlets that are connected to the tubes and has one inlet, which is accessible from outside. Several materials were considered for the tubes, i.e., polymethylmethacrylate, starch, inorganic phosphate cement and alumina. Three-point-bending and four-point-bending tests proved that self-healing and multiple self-healing is possible with this developed vascular system.

Feasibility study on integrated structural health monitoring system produced by metal three-dimensional printing

Numerous structural health monitoring systems have been investigated extensively in order to enhance safety level and reduce direct operational costs. This work demonstrates the feasibility study of a new concept, the effective structural health monitoring system. The effective structural health monitoring system detects cracks using a system of capillaries incorporated into a structure. The structure with the integrated capillaries is produced by additive manufacturing, a process of adding material layer by layer. The first objective of this study is to prove that the developed system has reached technological readiness level 3. In order to prove that, four-point bending specimens with the integrated effective structural health monitoring system were tested after being produced by additive manufacturing, more specifically by laser metal deposition. The second objective of the study is to indicate that during four-point bending fatigue tests, the integrated structural health monitoring system has no influence on the crack initiation behavior. To do so, the specimens were subjected to the so-called step method. We demonstrate that the effective structural health monitoring has reached technological readiness level 3 and that the presence of effective structural health monitoring did not negatively influence the fatigue initiation process. As higher technology readiness levels are required, further investigations are still in progress.

Fracture of Human Femur Tissue Monitored by Acoustic Emission Sensors

The study describes the acoustic emission (AE) activity during human femur tissue fracture. The specimens were fractured in a bending-torsion loading pattern with concurrent monitoring by two AE sensors. The number of recorded signals correlates well with the applied load providing the onset of micro-fracture at approximately one sixth of the maximum load. Furthermore, waveform frequency content and rise time are related to the different modes of fracture (bending of femur neck or torsion of diaphysis). The importance of the study lies mainly in two disciplines. One is that, although femurs are typically subjects of surgical repair in humans, detailed monitoring of the fracture with AE will enrich the understanding of the process in ways that cannot be achieved using only the mechanical data. Additionally, from the point of view of monitoring techniques, applying sensors used for engineering materials and interpreting the obtained data pose additional difficulties due to the uniqueness of the bone structure.

Fatigue of Ti6Al4V Structural Health Monitoring Systems Produced by Selective Laser Melting

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) process which is used for producing metallic components. Currently, the integrity of components produced by SLM is in need of improvement due to residual stresses and unknown fracture behavior. Titanium alloys produced by AM are capable candidates for applications in aerospace and industrial fields due to their fracture resistance, fatigue behavior and corrosion resistance. On the other hand, structural health monitoring (SHM) system technologies are promising and requested from the industry. SHM systems can monitor the integrity of a structure and during the last decades the research has primarily been influenced by bionic engineering. In that aspect a new philosophy for SHM has been developed: the so-called effective structural health monitoring (eSHM) system. The current system uses the design freedom provided by AM. The working principle of the system is based on crack detection by means of a network of capillaries that are integrated in a structure. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the functionality of Ti6Al4V produced by the SLM process in the novel SHM system and to confirm that the eSHM system can successfully detect cracks in SLM components. In this study four-point bending fatigue tests on Ti6Al4V SLM specimens with an integrated SHM system were conducted. Fractographic analysis was performed after the final failure, while finite element simulations were used in order to determine the stress distribution in the capillary region and on the component. It was proven that the SHM system does not influence the crack initiation behavior during fatigue. The results highlight the effectiveness of the eSHM on SLM components, which can potentially be used by industrial and aerospace applications.

Temperature-sensitive photoluminescent CdSe-ZnS polymer composite film for lock-in photothermal characterization

The temperature dependence of the fluorescence spectrum of CdSe−ZnS core–shell quantum dots embedded in a polystyrene matrix is characterized between 30 °C and 60 °C. The spectrally integrated photoluminescence intensity is found to linearly decrease with −1.3%/ °C. This feature is exploited in a dual coating-substrate-configuration, consisting of a layer of this nanocomposite material, acting as a temperature sensor with optical readout, on top of an optically absorbing and opaque layer, acting as a photothermal excitation source, and covering a substrate material or structure of interest. From the frequency dependence of the optically detected photothermal signal in the frequency range between 5 Hz and 150 Hz, different thermal parameters of the constituent layers are determined. The fitted values of thermal properties of the different layers, determined in different scenarios in terms of the used a priori information about the layers, are found to be internally consistent, and consistent with literatur...