Assessing the number of twists of stranded wires using ultrasound

Abstract

Wiring, of different degrees of complexity, is a dominant part of mechanical support in constructions, electromagnetic and telecommunication signal transmission cables, among other applications. Single and manifold twisted wires are prominent examples of such utilities and are susceptible to mechanical irritations and deterioration. They require ultrasonic non-destructive testing and health monitoring. The objective is to develop an ultrasound-based technique to automatically measure the number of twists per meter in winded wire strands implementable in the industry, to be used during an ultrasonic scan and provide the number of twists per meter during cable production, for instance, to verify that calibration is still in place. Fourier transformation is applied as an expedited non-destructive testing method of twisted wires. Digital signal processing to obtain spatial and time spectral representation recognition due to amplitude variance, induced by the varying distance between the transducer and wire, is developed depending on the number of twists. Two different spatial spectral analyses satisfactorily quantify the number of twists by providing the distance between each twist. The method is robust and applicable when the distance between the transducer and strand is not constant, as the industry requires.