Papers by Author: Magdalena Rucka

Abstract: This paper presents experimental study on dispersive waves propagation in steel rails. The propagation of longitudinal and transverse waves was generated by an impulse hammer and measured in three points. Wavelet transform (WT) and short time Fourier transform (STFT) were applied to analyze the time signals. Analysis of signal by STFT does not provide a proper timefrequency representation due to a fixed size window. The wavelet transform can effectively identify the time-frequency components in waves. The wavelet signal processing of the experimental wave propagation signals is intended to be used for rail flaw detection.

Abstract: In this paper a method for estimating the damage location in beam and plate structures is presented. A plexiglas cantilever beam and a plexiglas plate with one fixed boundary condition are tested experimentally. The dynamic response of the structures is analyzed using one and twodimensional continuous wavelet transforms of the structural mode shapes. The location of the crack is indicated by a peak in the spatial variation of the transformed response. The proposed wavelet analysis can effectively identify the crack position without knowledge of either the structure characteristics or its mathematical model. The practical application of the technique for civil engineering structures requires only the response of the structure.