Reverse time migration Lamb wave imaging based on mode separation

Abstract

Frequency domain reverse time migration method is used to reconstruct damages in isotropic and anisotropic plates. Considering multimode overlapping, the Lamb wave signals scattered by the defects may result in artifacts in defect imaging. The scattering signals are thus pre-processed by using a mode separation method based on the vibration symmetry difference between the fundamental guided modes. Based on the multi-element array ultrasonic technique, a numerical study is carried out for defect imaging of aluminum and composite plates by using the frequency reverse time migration method. This paper is organized as follows. Firstly, in order to capture multi-directional information about damages, scattering Lamb wave signals caused by the defects are numerically collected by an annular array of transducers through using the finite element simulation. Secondly, after the pre-processing of mode separation, the separated scattering signals are time-reversed and used to stimulate the corresponding receivers. The Green's function is utilized to back-propagate the scattering Lamb signals in frequency domain, so that the back-propagated acoustic field information of monitored area can be obtained. Finally, the defect images are reconstructed by the cross-correlation between the incident acoustic field and the back-propagated acoustic field. To illustrate the influence of mode separation, the numerical experiments are carried out on an aluminum plate with single defect and on another composite plate with two adjacent identical defects. The reconstructed results from frequency domain reverse time migration method with and without mode separation are compared. The comparison indicates the importance of mode separation. Furthermore, the method is extended to detecting the double adjacent defects with different depths in the composite plate. The imaging result illustrates that the presupposed two adjacent defects with different depths are successfully identified. Numerical results demonstrate that the pre-processing of mode separation helps to effectively remove the artifacts resulting from the multimode interference in the imaging process. The proposed frequency reverse time migration method presents a strong potential for detecting and imaging defects in isotropic and anisotropic plates, which is capable of accurately measuring multi-site defects with information about geometry, size and depth.