J. F. Silva Gomes

NDI of Interfaces in Coating Systems Using Digital Interferometry

Abstract This paper describes a new application of two laser interferometry techniques to the non-destructive inspection (NDI) of coated surfaces. The purpose is to detect interfacial disbond between the coating and the substrate. Debonding is detected by properly exciting the surface of the object under inspection in such a way that the interference fringe pattern is modified rendering the disbond readily visible. The fringe patterns resulting from the associated images were captured using electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) and shearography. Image processing techniques are applied to enhance the detection and better definition of the debonded layer. Some results and discussions are presented to illustrate the applicability of these two optical techniques to thermal barrier coatings.

The dynamic analysis of piping systems using pseudo-dynamic techniques

This paper describes an application of pseudo-dynamic techniques to the dynamic analysis of piping structures. Essentially it consists in coupling a direct time integration algorithm, such as the Newmark method, to an experimental step. At each time step the integration algorithm generates a displacement vector of the structure, which is prescribed for the test specimen. This is mounted in a rigid test rig fitted with a set of displacement actuators and load cells at the level of the structure degrees of freedom. The load cells allow the reading of the internal restoring force vector, which is fed back to the direct time integration algorithm in an actual time step. Further calculations for the velocity and acceleration vectors will define a new structure configuration by evaluating a new displacement vector referred to the next time step. This procedure makes it possible to assess experimentally a realistic stress distribution at sections of complex shape piping parts. The method is a precise tool in dynamic analysis and, on being carried out in a quasi-static procedure, it operates with less expensive equipment than is necessary in real dynamic test.

Use of interferometric techniques for measuring the displacement field in the plane of a part-through crack existing in a plate

An experimental procedure based on holographic interferometry coupled with computer-aided image processing techniques was used to estimate the stress intensity factor (SIF) of a part-through crack in a plate. The loading consisted of a uniform remote tensile stress, leading to an opening and edge rotation displacement field along the crack plane. The evaluation of the crack opening displacements and edge rotations, carried out after the numerical interpretation of the fringe pattern, made possible an estimation of the SIF along the crack line, following the theoretical basis of the Line-Spring Model developed by Rice and Levy.

Internal Fractures in Solids of Revolution Due to Stress Wave Focussing

Internal fractures in spherical, paraboloidal, hyperboloidal and elliptical solids subjected to concentrated surface explosive loading are investigated. The initiation and growth of the internal fractures are associated with the focusing effect of P and S wave fronts reflected from the curved boundaries. High speed photography on perspex specimen is used for the verification of predictions of simple methods of geometrical optics and propagation of discontinuities. The speed with which these internal fractures grow are found to depend upon the geometry of the surface of the solid.

New improvements in shearography techniques

Shearography is a non-contact full field technique used in the assessment of spatial gradient of displacements through a preset direction, Hung and Taylor [1]. The optical set-up can be based on a Michelson interferometer scheme, for static or quasi-static measurements, and on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer if dynamic measurements have to be performed, Santos et al [2]. In both set-ups a speckle pattern, obtained from a rough surface, is laterally shifted to create the interference and the light used for the interferometer arms have a common path between the object and the set-up. So, this interferometric technique can be used with low coherence lasers and is almost insensitive to rigid body motion. The fringe patterns obtained with shearography result from the interference between two speckled wave fronts and have lower contrast that the ones obtained with specular reference interferometers.