METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY ASSESSMENT

• US 20140260527A1
• Filed: 03/12/2014
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brigham Young University (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)
• Original Assignee: Brigham Young University (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)
• Inventors: MAZZEO, Brian A., GUTHRIE, William S., PATIL, Anjali N.
• Granted Patent: US 9,470,661 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/12.05
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0232 Glass, ceramics, concrete or stone
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/044 Internal reflections (echoes), e.g. on walls or defects
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/045 by imparting shocks to the workpiece and detecting the vibrations or the acoustic waves caused by the shocks measuring resonant frequency G01H13/00; measuring strength properties by application of mechanical stress G01N3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/14 using acoustic emission techniques echo of particles G01N29/046; measuring mechanical vibrations or acoustic waves in solids in general G01H1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/38 by time filtering, e.g. using time gates
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/4472 Mathematical theories or simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/46 by spectral analysis, e.g. Fourier analysis or wavelet analysis spectral signal processing per se G06F17/14

Abstract

The method includes dispensing an object at a portion of concrete, determining an impact time of the object on the portion of concrete, detecting at least one acoustic wave reflected from the portion of concrete, filtering the at least one acoustic wave, and identifying a defect in the portion of concrete based on the filtering.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

dispensing an object at a portion of concrete;

determining an impact time of the object on the portion of concrete;

detecting at least one acoustic wave reflected from the portion of concrete;

filtering the at least one acoustic wave; and

identifying a defect in the portion of concrete based on the filtering.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the object is one of a plurality of objects each dispensed in succession at a high velocity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of concrete is a portion of a roadway or bridge and the object is one of a plurality of objects, the method further comprising:

changing a dispense location along the roadway or bridge;

dispensing each of the plurality of objects incrementally along the roadway or bridge; and

identifying an impact location on the roadway or bridge for each of the plurality of objects, the identifying a defect includes identifying if a defect exists at each impact position.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein

the dispensing of the object includes,

dispensing a first object at a first time, and

dispensing a second object at a second time,

the determining of the impact time of the object includes,

determining an impact time of the first object, and

determining an impact time of the second object, and

the filtering of the at least one acoustic wave includes,

applying a window that moves with time based on the impact time of the first object and an impact time of the second object,

the window is configured to isolate an acoustic wave associated with the first object from an acoustic wave associated with the second object.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the dispensing of the object is one of a compressed gas launch and spring assisted launch.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the object dissipates into an environment surrounding the portion of concrete without a negative impact on the environment surrounding the portion of concrete.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the filtering of the at least one acoustic wave includes time domain filtering of the at least one acoustic wave associated with the dispensing of the object.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the filtering of the acoustic wave includes,

converting the acoustic wave into the frequency domain, and

frequency domain filtering of ambient noise.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying of a defect includes,

converting the acoustic wave into the frequency domain,

determining a center frequency of an contour, and

identifying a defect based on the center frequency of the contour and a threshold value.

10. A system comprising:

a dispenser configured to project an object toward a portion of concrete;

a detector configured to detect at least one acoustic wave reflected from the portion of concrete in response to impact of the object; and

an assessment device configured to filter the at least one acoustic wave and identify a defect based on the results of the filter.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein

the assessment device includes a filter module, and

the filter module is configured to apply at least one of a time domain filter and a frequency domain filter to remove at least one acoustic wave associated with the dispensing of the object and at least one acoustic wave associated with ambient noise.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein

the assessment device includes a flaw determination module,

the flaw determination module is configured to convert the at least one acoustic wave reflected from the portion of concrete to a frequency domain as at least one contour having a center frequency, and

the flaw determination module is configured to identify a defect based on the center frequency of the at least one contour and a threshold value.

13. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a vehicle configured to move the system along a roadway or bridge;

a global positioning system configured to determine a position of the system, wherein

the portion of concrete is a portion of the roadway or bridge and the object is one of a plurality of objects,

the dispenser projects each of the plurality of objects incrementally along the roadway or bridge, and

the assessment device identifies an impact position on the roadway or bridge for each of the plurality of objects and identifies whether or not a defect exists at each impact position.

14. The system of claim 10, further comprising a datastore configured to store a plurality of measurements associated with the at least one acoustic wave in correspondence with associated impact times for the object and a location of the impact of the object.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the assessment device filters the at least one acoustic wave using at least one of a time domain filter and a frequency domain filter.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the assessment device,

removes at least one acoustic wave associated with a dispensing of the object using a time domain filter;

and

removes at least one acoustic wave associated with ambient noise using a frequency domain filter.

17. The system of claim 10, further comprising a catcher configured to retrieve at least one object projected by the dispenser.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium including code segments that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

process a plurality of records from a datastore, the plurality of records including at least one measurement associated with an acoustic wave reflected from a portion of concrete upon impact of an object and information about the measurement;

filter the at least one measurement using at least one of a time domain filter and a frequency domain filter; and

identify a defect in the portion of concrete based on the filtered at least one measurement.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the code segments further cause the processor to:

convert the at least one measurement to a frequency domain as at least one contour having a center frequency; and

to identify a defect based on the center frequency of the at least one contour and a threshold value.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the filtering of the at least one measurement includes,

removing at least one measurement of an acoustic wave associated with a dispensing of the object using the time domain filter;

and

removing at least one measurement of an acoustic wave associated with ambient noise using the frequency domain filter.