Papers by Author: Lin Ye

Abstract: A piezoelectric active sensor network is configured to collect the wave scattering from a throughthickness hole on an aluminium rectangular tube. It is found that guided waves are capable of propagating across the tube edges, while keeping the sensitivity to the damage even not on surfaces where the actuator and sensor are located. Signal correlation between the intact and damaged structure is evaluated and the probability distribution of damage is thus achieved on the unfolded tube surface.

Abstract: The paper describes the manufacture of thin composite panels using high performance sheet moulding compound (SMC). Topics discussed within the paper include characterisation of curing and flow behaviour of SMC material, tooling design concept and determination of suitable processing conditions for compression moulding. A Full scale “Burst test” was carried out to evaluate the mechanical performance of SMC panels. The overall performance of the SMC panels was satisfactory with all panels failed beyond the specification value. The main failure mode was a through-thickness cracking. In addition, a geometrical non-linear numerical analysis was also carried out to investigate the stress distribution and deflection behaviour of SMC panel during “Burst testing”.

Abstract: A quantitative evaluation approach for multi-delamination in fibre-reinforced composite laminates was developed, in virtue of a built-in active sensor network. The approach, conducted hierarchically by activating different sensors in a sensor network, fused time-of-flight (ToF) extracted from signals at different levels, whereby to provide an overall consensus as to all possible instance(s) of damage in the laminates. Benefiting from the network, the dependence of evaluation on a specific sensor or signal was furthest minimised, and the need for interpreting complex signal involving scattering by multi-damage was avoided. The approach was validated by assessing the locations and shapes of dual-delamination in a CF/EP woven laminate.

Abstract: Laser shock peening (LSP) is an innovative surface treatment technique for metal alloys, with the great improvement of their fatigue, corrosion and wear resistance performance. Finite element method has been widely applied to simulate the LSP to provide the theoretically predictive assessment and optimally parametric design. In the current work, 3-D numerical modelling approaches, combining the explicit dynamic analysis, static equilibrium analysis algorithms and different plasticity models for the high strain rate exceeding 106s-1, are further developed. To verify the proposed methods, 3-D static and dynamic FEA of AA7075-T7351 rods subject to two-sided laser shock peening are performed using the FEA package–ABAQUS. The dynamic and residual stress fields, shock wave propagation and surface deformation of the treated metal from different material modelling approaches have a good agreement.

Abstract: Impulse response provides important information about flaws in mechanical system. Deconvolution is one system identification technique for fault detection when signals captured from bearings with and without flaw are both available. However effects of measurement systems and noise are obstacles to the technique. In the present study, a model, namely autoregressive-moving average (ARMA), is used to estimate vibration pattern of rolling element bearings for fault detection. The frequently used ARMA estimator cannot characterize non-Gaussian noise completely. Aimed at circumventing the inefficiency of the second-order statistics-based ARMA estimator, higher-order statistics (HOS) was introduced to ARMA estimator, which eliminates the effect of noise greatly and, therefore, offers more accurate estimation of the system. Furthermore, bispectrums of the estimated HOS-based ARMA models were subsequently applied to get clearer information. Impulse responses of signals captured from the test bearings without and with flaws and their bispectra were compared for the purpose of fault detection. The results demonstrated the excellent capability of this method in vibration signal processing and fault detection.

Abstract: The mechanical strength and failure behavior of two photonic crystal silica optical fibers with different diameters were investigated using tensile test. The effect of polymer coating on the failure behavior was also studied. The results indicated that all fibers failed in a brittle manner and the failure normally initiated from fiber surfaces. The failure loads observed in the coated fibers are higher than that in bare fibers and the reason is explained by the apparent delamination between the fiber and the polymer coating when loaded on the fiber surfaces. The relationship between a characteristic parameter measured on the fracture surfaces and the failure stress was examined.

Abstract: Fracture toughness and other mechanical properties of epoxies modified with nano-slica particles were measured to elaborate effects of nano-additives on fracture behaviour of the modified epoxies. Interlaminar fracture behaviours of the nano-silica modified CF/EP composites were subsequently investigated by conducting Mode-I and Mode-II interlaminar fracture toughness tests as well as transverse tension tests. It was found that the fracture toughness of the nano-silica modified epoxies and the interlaminar fracture toughness of nano-silica modified CF/EP composites have been increased significantly (>50%), while the strength and modulus of the materials remain unchanged or slightly higher. In particular, the nano-silica modified epoxies showed only very little reduction in the glass transition temperature (Tg).

Abstract: Stringer-stiffened plate-like structure is a typical engineering structure and its structural integrity is critical. A guided Lamb wave-based damage identification scheme and an online structural health monitoring (SHM) system with an integrated PZT-sensor network were developed. In the previous studies, the specimens were relatively simple. In this paper, the abovementioned method was extended to the stiffened plate-like structure—a flat plate reinforced by stringer. FE dynamic simulation was applied to investigate the Lamb wave propagation characteristics due to the existence of stringer with the consideration of its material and geometric configurations.

Abstract: In contrast to the classical composites, microfibrillar reinforced composites are not prepared via melt blending of the matrix and the reinforcing material. In fact, the reinforcing elements of this composite, the microfibrils, are created during processing. This advantage allows the manufacturing of a full biodegradable composite material with improved mechanical properties. Basing on a blend of two common biodegradable polymers, polylactide and polyglycolide, this new composite shows promising values under ambient conditions.

Abstract: A series of digital frequency filters (DFFs) were designed to screen diverse noises and the spectrographic analysis was conducted to isolate complex boundary reflection, which obscures the damage-induced signals. The scale-averaged wavelet power (SAP) technique was applied to enhance the measurement accuracy of Time of Flight (TOF). As an example, the propagation characteristics of elastic wave in a structural beam of square cross-section were analyzed using such an approach and verified experimentally and numerically, with the consideration of the complicated wave scatter caused by the non-ignorable section dimensions.