Chapter 1

Introductory Chapter: Acoustic

Emission
MahmutReyhanoglu

1. Introduction

Acoustic emission (AE) is a relatively new non-destructive Testing (NDT)

technique. Structural testing and assessment, material characterization, and
process monitoring are three important application areas of AE. A comprehensive
introduction to the AE technique can be found in [1].
The AE technique is one of the most reliable NDT techniques for detecting and
monitoring damages and defects in different structures. AE has been effectively
employed for fracture behavior monitoring and fatigue detection in various mate-
rials including composites, metals, concrete, fiberglass, ceramics, plastics, and
wood. It has also been used for fault and pressure leak detection in pipes, tanks, and
vessels.
There are several electronic instruments that can be used to digitize and store
large numbers of high-speed digital waveform signals of AE. Common instruments
used in AE include preamplifiers, amplifiers, filters, sensors and other data collec-
tion, analysis, and storage equipment such as computers, oscilloscopes, and voltme-
ters. Preamplifiers are used to amplify a weak signal and to reduce the interference
from noise, while the piezoelectric sensors are used for the conversion of mechani-
cal AE waves into electrical voltages. The overall objective of the measurement is
to determine the various AE parameters such as the frequency range (controlled
by filters) that exist in the system by observing and measuring the performance of
AE amplifiers and sensors. These are very useful mechanisms for measuring the
essential AE parameters such as event, count, energy moment, maximum ampli-
tude, hit, energy, arrival-time difference, RMS (root mean square) voltage, rise
time, spectrum, frequency, and duration [2].

2. Applications of AE techniques

Application areas of AE span numerous fields, including aerospace, automotive,

biomedical, manufacturing, civil, and materials engineering fields.
Monitoring the condition and predicting the life of the main structures of
an aircraft play significant role in guaranteeing the flight safety. AE techniques
are successfully employed in damage and crack identification and monitoring in
aircraft composite and steel structures [3, 4].
AE is extensively used in the automotive industry in fault diagnosis of inter-
nal combustion engines (ICEs). Reference [5] deals with advanced techniques
based on vibro-acoustic signals that can diagnose and monitor ICE malfunctions
under vehicle operating conditions. Reference [6] develops new AE models and

1
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

effective wavelet-based AE signal processing techniques for monitoring lubrication

conditions.
The primary use of AE technique in biomedical field is bone condition assess-
ment under different loading conditions, in osteoporosis and in fracture healing
process monitoring [7]. AE can be used for detecting defects in tissues and materi-
als, predicting failure, and monitoring damage progression in real time [8].
AE has been used as a widely applied technique in manufacturing process
monitoring due to its sensitivity to process parameters. The use of AE as a monitor-
ing technique for machining operations comes with more advantages, one of which
is its ability to detect machine vibrations from those of AE signals due to high-
frequency range and sensitivity of AE signals, thus preventing it from interfering
with the cutting operation [9, 10].
Structural health monitoring (SHM) in civil engineering involves AE technique
for detecting cracks in structures. This technique relies on the high-frequency
ultrasonic waves generating energy that is rapidly emitted from a material through-
out from the initiation to growth progression of cracks. The wide applicability of
AE technique is evident in several metal piping system evaluations and fiberglass-
reinforced plastics (FRP) and concrete bridges [11, 12].
AE originates from stress waves generated as a result of the growth or movement
that takes place in solid defects. When a composite material is subject to a mechani-
cal load, it can experience matrix cracking, debonding, and delamination. AE is a
powerful technique capable of detecting these damage types in composites [13, 14].

2
Introductory Chapter: Acoustic Emission
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.102625

References

[1] Scruby CB. An introduction to and monitoring of machining processes.

acoustic emission. Journal of Physics E: Ultrasonics. 2000;38(1-8):598-603
Scientific Instruments. 1987;20(8):946
[10] Jemielniak K, Arrazola PJ.
[2] Grosse CU, Ohtsu ME. Acoustic Application of AE and cutting force
Emission Testing. Berlin, Heidelberg: signals in tool condition monitoring in
Springer-Verlag; 2008 micro-milling. CIRP Journal of
Manufacturing Science and Technology.
[3] Diamanti K, Soutis C. Structural 2008;1(2):97-102
health monitoring techniques for
aircraft composite structures. Progress [11] Grosse CU, Reinhardt HW, Finck F.
in Aerospace Sciences. 2010;46(8): Signal-based acoustic emission
342-352 techniques in civil engineering. Journal
of Materials in Civil Engineering.
[4] Pullin R, Eaton MJ, Hensman JJ, 2003;15(3):274-279
Holford KM, Worden K, Evans S.
Validation of acoustic emission (AE) [12] Ai Q, Liu CX, Chen XR, He P,
crack detection in aerospace grade steel Wang Y. Acoustic emission of fatigue
using digital image correlation. Applied crack in pressure pipe under cyclic
Mechanics and Materials. 2010; pressure. Nuclear Engineering and
24:221-226 Design. 2010;240(10):3616-3620

[5] Delvecchio S, Bonfiglio P, Pompoli F. [13] Ohtsu M. The history and

Vibro-acoustic condition monitoring development of acoustic emission in
of internal combustion engines: concrete engineering. Magazine of
A critical review of existing techniques. Concrete Research. 1996;48(177):
Mechanical Systems and Signal 321-330
Processing. 2018;99:661-683
[14] Wevers M. Listening to the sound of
[6] Wei N, Gu JX, Gu F, Chen Z, Li G, materials: Acoustic emission for the
Wang T, et al. An investigation into the analysis of material behavior. NDT and
acoustic emissions of internal E International. 1997;30(2):99-106
combustion engines with modelling and
wavelet package analysis for monitoring
lubrication conditions. Energies.
2019;12:640-659

[7] Shrivastava S, Prakash R. Assessment

of bone condition by acoustic emission
technique: A review. Journal of
Biomedical Science and Engineering.
2009;2(03):144

[8] Kohn DH. Acoustic emission and

nondestructive evaluation of
biomaterials and tissues. Critical
Reviews in Biomedical Engineering.
1995;23(3-4):221-306

[9] Govekar E, Gradisek J, Grabec I.

Analysis of acoustic emission signals

3
 Chapter 2

Crack Classification in Steel-RC

and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying
Reinforcement Ratio Using AE
Parameters
Gaurav Sharma, Shruti Sharma and Sandeep Kumar Sharma

Abstract

The main aim of this chapter is to monitor the cracking and damage assessment
in steel-reinforced concrete (steel-RC) and glass fibre polymer-reinforced concrete
(GFRP-RC) beams along with varying percentages of tension reinforcement ratio.
Beam specimens measuring (150  230  2100) mm were tested using a four-point
bending flexural test using a universal testing machine together with an AE moni-
toring system. Acoustic emission (AE) has been applied for the early monitoring of
steel-RC and GFRP-RC structures using AE parameters such as cumulative AE hits,
average frequency, rise angle, amplitude, duration and AE XY plots to evaluate the
micro and macro cracking in the steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams specimens. The
most popular applications of AE signal in structural health monitoring are specified
on crack monitoring, quantifying the degree of damage, and crack classification. In
this research, the results indicated that the average frequency and rise angle
parameter of AE signal are applied to classify the types of cracks (flexural or shear
cracks) that occur in steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams along with varying percentages
of tension reinforcement ratio subjected to flexural loading. As a result of these
findings, the AE approach may be used to examine crack monitoring and crack
classification in steel and GFRP-RC beams with different percentages of tension
reinforcement ratios.

Keywords: load-deflection, AE, crack classification, hits, GFRP bars, steel bars

1. Introduction

The most common problem associated with coastal infrastructure in metro cities
like Mumbai, Bangalore, and Chennai is corrosion, which leads to cracking (micro-
macro) and resulting in gradual ageing of the structure and its components, as a
result of climate change and sea-level rises [1]. Moreover, the National Association
of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) has detailed the adverse impact on the Indian
economy for the corrosion of reinforcement in structural components about U.S.
$26.1 billion (2.4% of the nations).
Gross domestic products (GDP) is spent annually for the corrosion of infra-
structure by the government of India [2]. Numerous strategies have been proposed
to postpone corrosion in reinforced concrete structures to minimise these huge

1
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

expenditures. Commonly suggested methods include the use of stainless steel [3]
and epoxy-coated rebars [4] in place of conventional steel bars, admixing corrosion
inhibitors [5], self-healing compounds in concrete [6], and use of polymer concrete.
It is important to note that these methods only delay the onset of corrosion and do
not prevent it entirely. Recently some researchers have also suggested the use of
self-healing micro-capsules for corrosion protection of metal [6, 7]. Apart from
that, these specific methods have scalability issues in structural applications and are
not cost-effective. Steel corrosion is a major problem in the construction industry,
and several approaches have been tried to combat it, but they have proven to be
either expensive or ineffective. Civil engineers from all over the world are chal-
lenged and in search of new and non-corroded affordable construction materials as
well as innovative approaches and systems to problem-solving [8].
In many civil engineering applications, fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) com-
posites reinforcement has been introduced as an alternative or substitute material
that can replace traditional reinforcing steel [9–11]. Apart from all this, FRP is a
non-corrosive material consisting of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres [12].
The fibres are usually aramid, basalt, carbon, and glass, although other fibres such
as asbestos or paper, or wood have been sometimes used. On the other hand, the
polymer is usually an epoxy, vinyl ester, or polyester thermosetting plastic and
phenol-formaldehyde resins are still in use. FRPs are commonly used in the aero-
space, automotive, marine, and construction industries. Glass fibre polymer
(GFRP) bars have been predominantly suggested for engineering applications vis-à-
vis economy and specific strength properties among other fibres [13].
Being non-corrosive, GFRP composite bars has many advantages such as high
strength-to-weight ratio, electromagnetic-neutrality, light-weight, ease of handling,
high longitudinal tensile strength, and non-magnetic characteristics, are easily
constructed, and can be tailored to satisfy performance requirements [14, 15]. FRP
composites have been used as internal reinforcement in concrete, bridge decks,
modular structures, formwork, and external reinforcement for strengthening and
seismic upgrading in modern construction and restoration of structures due to their
favourable qualities. GFRP bars can be utilised in place of steel rebars in harsh
exposure situations such as coastal settings, as well as in a variety of other structural
applications such as wharves, box culverts, dry docks, and retaining walls [16].
Furthermore, due to their linearly elastic stress-strain relationship up to failure,
GFRP reinforcing bars react differently from typical steel reinforcing bars. Fur-
thermore, as compared to steel-reinforced concrete members, the lower modulus of
elasticity of GFRP reinforcing bars produces a significant drop in flexural stiffness
of GFRP-RC members after cracking and, as a result, greater deflection/deforma-
tions under service or loading circumstances [17, 18].
As a result, the serviceability limit state is frequently used to guide the design of
GFRP-RC flexure members. In addition, relevant design codes and guidelines for
the use of GFRP bars in RC structures have been developed [8]. More research is
still needed to provide the required confidence through a better understanding of
the flexural behaviour of GFRP-RC [8] using the non-destructive acoustic emission
(AE) technique. The AE technique (AET) is considered as one of the most promis-
ing techniques from various types of Non Destructive Testing (NDT) methods [19].
The AE method and other NDT methods differ in two main features. First, in AE,
the energy signal originates from the sample itself making its own signal, in
response to stress. Second, the AE can detect the dynamic process because of its
capability to detect movement or strain, whereas most of the other methods can
detect existing geometrical discontinuities or fractures [20]. Thus, AE techniques
have been applied to detect the crack location [21, 22] to quantify the degree of
damage [23] and to determine the crack classification [24] in concrete structures.

2
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

These efforts, which will greatly improve our understanding of how concrete
members reinforced with GFRP bars should be analysed, as well as the combination
of these techniques, is expected to overcome the shortcomings of the respective
techniques, increasing the efficiency of structural inspection and allowing for more
frequent monitoring of structures.

2. AE monitoring technique

AE has been recently recognised as one of the most reliable passive tools for in-
situ health monitoring of civil engineering RC structures [19]. It employs surface-
mounted AE-sensors to capture the energy bursts in the form of the transient
elastic-stress waves. These elastic waves are generated due to the rapid release of
energy during deformation or crack propagation in RC structures during any type
of loading [20, 25]. These AE sensors convert transient elastic waves into electrical
signals. In AET, various AE parameters are extracted and used to correlate to
damage initiation and progression in various kinds of infrastructures as well as
localise and quantify it. Some of the key AE parameters reported for damage
analysis are cumulative AE hits and AE counts, AE energy (MARSE), and AE signal
strength are shown in Figure 1. Acoustic emission hits in AE bursts are described as
the number of times an AE transient signal crosses the threshold value of the
anticipated signals in a structure. As the cumulative AE hits and counts increase, it
points towards damage progression in the structure and gives information about the
intensity of the AE event. AE energy is the transient elastic energy released during
an AE event and is measured as the area under the AE signal. A significant jump in
the AE signal energy in the form of a ‘Knee” indicates severe damage in the form of
macro-cracking in the structure [21, 22].
Recent studies have also demonstrated the potential of AE techniques to detect
the onset and propagation of damage/cracking in RC structures under flexural
loading. Characterisation of cracks in plain and reinforced concrete beams subjected
to flexural loading up to failure has also been reported [25]. It has been reported that
as the level of damage in the RC beam increases, an increase in AE parameters of AE
hits, counts, AE energy, rise time, and duration has been observed. AE parameters
of average frequency (AF) and rise angle (RA) have been correlated with the
cracking pattern and its type-tensile or shear cracks [27]. It has been observed that
AE-based Ib-value along with RA and AF has been successfully used for the

Figure 1.
Waveform of AE signal and its various parameter [26].

3
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

evaluation of flexural deformation of RC beams under cyclic loading [27]. AET has
also been recently used for monitoring the fracture behaviour of different types of
composite concrete beams [28]. AE not only determines accurately the onset of
cracking and monitors the development of fracture but also indicates various kinds of
damage and fracture modes in the form of de-bonding and concrete cracking in these
beams. Hence, it can be concluded that AET has been established as a potential NDT
tool for monitoring the performance of RC structures under loading when subjected
to various types of damages. In this work, the efficacy of AET to understand and
compare the failure pattern of steel and GFRP reinforced concrete is explored to
establish its effectiveness as a potential NDT tool for concrete structures.
In this study, steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams with varying tension reinforcement
were prepared and tested under the four-point bending test associated with AE
equipment. The main objectives of this chapter are to examine the behaviour of
cracks at each stage of the mechanical behaviour of the RC beams from loading to
failure using the AE parameter analysis-based method. Moreover, this chapter also
attempts to examine the effect of the changes in the varying percentage tension
reinforcement ratio of steel-RC and GFRP-RC beam and level of damage on the
parameters (cumulative AE hits, amplitude, rise angle, and A-FRQ) of the AE
parameter analysis-based method. Furthermore, this chapter also aims to classify
the crack types and classification of damage level occurs in two differently
reinforced concrete beams along with varying percentage tension reinforcement
ratio.

3. Experimental program and methodology

3.1 Specimen details and test matrix

RC beams having an effective length of 2000 mm with an overhang of 50 mm on

each side with 150 mm  230 mm cross-sectional dimensions were cast (Figure 2)
using design mix proportions of 1:1.47:2.54 of cement, sand, and coarse aggregates
with water-cement ratio of 0.46 using IS code method [30, 31]. The average com-
pressive strength of the concrete used in both steel and GFRP reinforced concrete
beams was experimentally obtained as 35.9 MPa. Moreover, mechanical properties
of steel [32] and GFRP bars [33] were determined experimentally using Universal
Testing Machine (Hung Ta Make, Taiwan with 1000 kN capacity) as shown in
Table 1.
In the present study, two sets of beams were cast-one reinforced with traditional
steel bars of Fe-500 grade bars denoted as (S-series) and the other reinforced with
GFRP bars denoted as (G-series). It is important to note that S-series beams had
both longitudinal as well as transverse reinforcement made of Fe 500 steel whereas

Figure 2.
Longitudinal and X-section details [29].

4
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

Bar diameter Ultimate tensile strength (MPa) Elastic modulus (GPa) Ultimate strain

(mm) Steel GFRP Steel GFRP Steel GFRP

8 530 866 201 41.3 0.0049 0.021

10 544 1092 205 43.7 0.0048 0.025

12 566 1219 210 41.20 0.0048 0.029

Table 1.
Mechanical properties of the reinforcing bars.

Series Code ρ (%) Asc Ast

S-0.33-1 S-0.33-2 G-0.33-1 G-0.33-2 0.33% 2–8 mm Ø 2–8 mm Ø

S-0.33-3 G-0.33-3

S-0.52-1 S-0.52-2 S-0.52-3 G-0.52-1 G-0.52-2 G-0.52-3 0.52% 2–8 mm Ø 2–10 mm Ø

S-1.11-1 S-1.11-2 S-1.11–3 G-1.11-1 G-1.11-2 G-1.11–3 1.11% 2–8 mm Ø 2–12 mm Ø

Asc = area of compression reinforcement; Ast = area of tension reinforcement.

Table 2.
Reinforcement details in the steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams.

G-series beams had both longitudinal as-well-as transverse reinforcement entirely

made of GFRP bars.
The design of RC beams is based on the [8]. Steel-RC beams were designed as
under reinforced [34] whereas GFRP-RC beams were designed as over reinforced
[8]. The reinforcement ratio (ρ = 100Ast/bd%) for each set of beams was varied as
0.33, 0.52, and 1.1% based on volumetric calculations. The steel-RC and GFRP-RC
beams were identified according to the series. The arrangement is in the form of A-
B-C, where A is the steel or GFRP-RC beam type, B is the steel or GFRP reinforce-
ment ratio, and C is the name of the specimen which is denoted as numeric numbers
1, 2, 3. The reinforcement details of both S- and G-series are shown in Table 2.
Three specimens of each beam series were cast to ensure repeatability of results but
only one beam per type of each reinforcement ratio is explained in this research
effort.
The experimental investigation involves testing of steel and GFRP reinforced
concrete beams in four-point flexural loading which was displacement controlled at
a rate of 0.01 mm/s (Figure 3). The loads were applied at L/3 from both supports
using a steel spherical roller with a hydraulically controlled load cell (Figure 3).
Mid-span deflections were measured using a Linear variable differential trans-
former (LVDT) attached underside of the RC beam and the load-deflection data
was recorded by a high, speed data acquisition system. Before the actual AE moni-
toring, the AE sensors were checked for sensitivity using the pencil lead break test
(PLB). After a successful PLB test, the wave velocity of concrete was set to
3.5  106 mm/s. To acquire AE signals, a threshold of 45 dB was set initially with a
preamplifier gain of 40 dB as input. AE-win software was used to acquire the signals
originating due to bending and subsequent cracking. The mechanical performance
of the steel and GFRP reinforced beams was compared by studying load-deflection
characteristics, failure modes, and the progression of visible cracking patterns and
moment carrying capacity. For AE monitoring of the steel and GFRP-RC beams, six
AE sensors (R6α, PAC Make) with a resonant frequency of 60 kHz were attached to
the front (3 Nos) and the back-face surface of the beam (3 Nos) as shown in
Figure 3. The AE sensors were attached to the beams using a Vaseline gel and held

5
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 3.
Acoustic emission monitoring setup [29]. (a) Schematic. (b) Actual beam with AE sensor.

in position using cello tape till the end of the experiment of steel and GFRP-RC
beams. AE signals were recorded continuously during the entire duration of the
loading of the beam. From the recorded AE signals, various AE waveform parame-
ters of amplitude and number of AE hits, their expanse, and spread obtained using
AE X-Y event plots have been used to study the variation in fracture and failure
pattern of steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams. The speckle pattern shown in Figure 3, is
used for digital image correlation (DIC) analysis which is the future scope of the
work.

4. Results and discussions

4.1 Flexural performance of steel reinforced beams

The load-deflection plot of steel-RC beams is broadly classified into three

regions un-cracked elastic, cracked-elastic, and plastic zones (Figures 4 and 5).
Initially, the applied loads as well as deflection are small and follow a linear
relationship.

Figure 4.
Load v/s deflection plots for S-series beams.

6
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

Figure 5.
Load v/s deflection plot for G-series beams.

Figure 6.
Load v/s deflection plots for S-series beams (one beam per type).

This zone I is named uncracked elastic zone as shown in Figure 6. With further
increase in loading, a significant change and reduction in stiffness of the beam are
observed with the development of hairline cracks at cracking load (Pcr ) of (5.58,
7.59, and 9.54) kN with a deflection (δcr ) of (0.61, 0.60, and 0.43) mm for S-0.33-1,
S-0.52-1, and S-1.11-1 beam, respectively (Table 3). These cracks progress along the
sides of the beam at constant stiffness. The cracks initiate and start becoming visible
at a load of (16, 20, and 30) kN for S-0.33-1, S-0.52-1, and S-1.11-1 beam, respec-
tively, in the tensile zone of the beam. With further increase in loading, the cracks
start propagating and appear in the form of distributed flexural and shear cracks
leading to steel yielding at a load (Py) of (28.93, 44.18, and 75.09) kN, with a
deflection (δy) of (6.27, 6.85, and 4.94) mm in S-0.33-1, S-0.52-1, and S-1.11-1 RC
beams, respectively as shown in Table 3. This part of the load-deflection plot from
Pcr to P y is termed as cracked-elastic zone II.
In zone III named plastic zone, the concrete section is cracked and ineffective in
resisting the loads and the entire load is taken by steel and yields. It is marked by an
increase in the mid-span deflection 23.22, 14.47, and 12.48 mm with a minor

7
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Parameters Pcr δcr Py δy Ppeak Pult δult δA ult

(kN) (mm) (kN) (mm) (kN) (kN) (mm) (mm)

S-0.33-1 5.58 0.61 28.93 6.27 35.18 33.43 55.51 53.13

S-0.33-2 4.41 0.54 30.84 10.23 33.70 31.58 51.23

S-0.33-3 5.38 0.99 24.97 6.82 30.71 29.82 52.65

G-0.33-1 7.89 1.37 33.6 30.33 51.32 48.94 68.68 65.14

G-0.33-2 6.41 0.99 39.94 45.63 49.34 44.13 65.27

G-0.33-3 6.22 0.97 33.4 32.49 47.68 34.13 61.48

S-0.52-1 6.99 0.55 45.85 7.34 50.43 46.10 43.10 42.59

S-0.52-2 5.81 0.52 43.75 6.54 48.26 38.40 41.77

S-0.52-3 6.14 0.53 46.26 9.53 48.80 46.08 42.90

G-0.52-1 8.01 0.91 51.8 40.47 57.73 56.74 60.10 55.52

G-0.52-2 7.56 0.81 54.33 38.77 59.32 51.96 54.26

G-0.52-3 8.77 0.75 48.19 29.37 57.60 53.69 52.20

S-1.11-1 9.54 0.43 81.44 5.50 88.94 84.85 30.9 31.42

S-1.11-2 10.17 0.71 75.42 6.03 83.41 72.52 31.02

S-1.11–3 9.75 0.34 75.87 11.04 82.81 78.01 32.36

G-1.11-1 10.31 0.34 57.46 14.06 83.71 76.98 34.47 34.52

G-1.11-2 9.55 0.76 66.84 20.78 79.51 70.33 33.39

G-1.11–3 12.9 1.03 63.70 15.95 81.81 64.57 35.71

Table 3.
Comparison of flexural parameters of steel and GFRP reinforced beams.

increase in load up to a peak load (PPeak) of (35.18, 50.80, and 88.96) kN, pointing
towards larger strain at the level of steel and increase in curvature of the cracked
section with an increase in the percentage of steel. Further due to the strain hard-
ening of steel, the beams fail at an ultimate load (Pu ) of (33.43, 44.96, and 82.75) kN
with a deflection (δu ) of (55.51, 43.1, and 30.9) mm in for S-0.33-1, S-0.52-1, and S-
1.11-1 RC beams, respectively. In general, it is observed that with the increase in the
reinforcement ratio, the ultimate load-carrying capacity increases by approximately
34% in S-0.52-1 and 42% in S-1.11-1 beams as compared to S-0.33-1 indicating
higher load carrying capacity with an increase in tensile reinforcement. Another
important observation is a significant increase in the area under the load-deflection
plot with an increase in the reinforcement ratio. It is also observed that plastic zone
III reduces drastically with an increase in steel. The failure takes place at the much
lower strain in the S-1.11-1 RC beam. All S-series RC beams specimens failed by
steel yielding and followed by concrete crushing.

4.2 Flexural performance of GFRP reinforced beams

The mechanical behaviour of GFRP-RC beams in flexure is visibly different from

steel-RC beams (Figure 7). Broadly, the behaviour of GFRP-RC beams exhibits a bi-
linear load-deflection response up to the failure without any yielding or ductility as
experienced by steel reinforced beams. Initially, the load-deflection curve is perfectly
linear and this zone is un-cracked elastic zone I. A noticeable decrease in the stiffness
of the beam is observed with the formation of hairline cracks at a load (Pcr) of (7.89,

8
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

Figure 7.
Load v/s deflection plot for GFRP reinforced beams (one beam per type).

8.0 and 11.42) kN with a deflection (δcr) of (1.31, 0.9, and 0.39) mm in G-0.33-1,
G-0.52-1, and G-1.11-1 RC beams, respectively. These minor cracks progress along
the sides of the beam at constant stiffness. With an increase in the reinforcement
ratio, initial bending stiffness also increases. As the load further increases, the
cracks initiate and become visible at a load of (15, 20, and 33) kN for G-0.33-1,
G-0.52-1, and G-1.11-1 RC beam in the pure bending region. Further with the
increase in loading, cracks progress towards the compression zone, and this zone
II is named cracked-elastic zone. The GFRP beams exhibit elastic response in this
zone with the progression of flexural cracks. This trend continues till a first drop
in the load-carrying capacity is observed at (33.6, 45.72, and 57.18) kN with a
deflection of (30.33, 32.01, and 16.37) mm with increasing reinforcement ratio,
pointing towards initiation of concrete crushing in G-0.33-1, G-0.52-1, and G-
1.11-1 RC beams.
The failure is a typical flexural failure in the form of vertical flexural cracks in
the pure bending zone along with their simultaneous spreading towards the entire
length of the beam. Further the crushing of concrete progress with a sharp increase
in the load-carrying capacity in zone III (concrete crushing zone). The beam con-
tinuous to carry load linearly with an increase in deflection until the second drop in
load is observed at (41.7, 47.63, and 73.99) kN with a deflection of (52.68, 40.74,
and 28.41) mm in G-0.33-1, G-0.52-1, and G-1.11-1 RC beams, respectively. The
effective concrete section is highly reduced due to cracking and ineffective in
resisting the tensile load and the beam fail at peak load of (PPeak) (51.32, 60.47, and
83.71) kN for in G-0.33-1, G-0.52-1, and G-1.11-1 RC beam with the ultimate
deflection (δu) (68.68, 60.09, and 34.47) mm. All the GFRP reinforced beams fail
typically by concrete crushing since they are designed as over-reinforced beams to
prevent the failure by GFRP rupture as expected in under-reinforced GFRP beams.

4.3 Effect of longitudinal tension reinforcement ratio on average mid-span

deflection

In structural engineering, the term deflection is defined as the movement of a

body from its original position under a force, load, or weight of the body itself. The
effect of midspan deflection with the same concrete strength is intrinsically related

9
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

to the longitudinal reinforcement ratio. As the longitudinal reinforcement ratio

changes from 0.33, 0.52, and 1.1%, the mid-span deflection decrease in both steel
and well as GFRP reinforced concrete beams. For example, in the case of steel-
reinforced concrete beams, increasing the longitudinal reinforcement ratio changes
from 0.33, 0.52, and 1.1% decreases the mid-span deflection by 53.15, 42.59, and
31.42 mm. On the other hand in the case of GFRP reinforced concrete beams
decreases by 65.14, 55.52, and 34.43 mm. Hence, the overall comparison of steel and
GFRP reinforced beams under static flexural loading is widely different. GFRP-RC
beams exhibit higher deflections and lower crack widths in comparison to steel
reinforced beams at the same reinforcement ratios (Figure 8 and Table 4). The
deflections are 22.55, 30.35, and 9.57% higher in G-0.33-1, G-0.33-1, and G-1.11-1
RC beams in comparison to S-0.33-1, S-0.52-1, and S-1.11-1 RC beams. This is
because of the low elastic modulus of GFRP bars as compared to steel bars.

Figure 8.
Variation in average maximum mid-span deflection Vs ‘ρ’.

RC Mexp Mth Mth/ RC Mexp Mth Mth/

specimen (kN-m) (kN-m) Mexp specimen (kN-m) (kN-m) Mexp

S-0.33-1 11.73 7.83 0.66 G-0.33-1 17.11 15.33 0.93

S-0.33-2 11.23 7.83 0.70 G-0.33-2 16.45 15.33 0.93

S-0.33-3 10.24 7.83 0.76 G-0.33-3 15.90 15.33 0.96

Average 11.06 7.83 0.70 Average 16.48 15.33 0.94

S-0.52-1 16.09 12.63 0.78 G-0.52-1 19.25 18.83 0.97

S-0.52-2 16.27 12.63 0.77 G-0.52-2 19.78 18.83 0.95

S-0.52-3 16.81 12.63 0.75 G-0.52-3 19.20 18.83 0.98

Average 16.39 12.63 0.76 Average 19.41 18.83 0.96

S-1.11-1 27.81 23.95 0.86 G-1.11-1 27.91 25.63 0.95

S-1.11-2 29.66 23.95 0.80 G-1.11-2 26.51 25.63 0.96

S-1.11–3 27.61 23.95 0.86 G-1.11–3 27.28 25.63 0.93

Average 28.36 23.95 0.84 Average 27.23 25.63 0.94

Table 4.
Moment capacities of steel and GFRP reinforced beams.

10
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

4.4 Effect of longitudinal reinforcement ratio on experimental moment

carrying capacities

The experimental moment carrying capacity is a maximum bending moment that

can be resisted by a beam or any other structural member before it fails in bending.
The effect of experimental moment carrying capacities with the same concrete
strength is essentially related to the longitudinal reinforcement ratio.
As the longitudinal reinforcement ratio changes from 0.33, 0.52, and 1.1% the
experimental moment carrying capacity increases in both steel and well as GFRP
reinforced concrete beams. For example in the case of steel-reinforced concrete
beams, increasing the longitudinal reinforcement ratio changes from 0.33, 0.52,
and 1.1% increases the experimental moment carrying capacity by 11.06, 16.39,
and 28.36 kN-m. On the other hand in the case of GFRP reinforced concrete
beams increases by 16.48, 19.41, and 27.23 kN-m as shown in Figure 9 and
Table 4. Overall, it is observed that with the increase in the longitudinal
reinforcement ratio, the ultimate load-carrying capacity increases by
approximately 34% in G-0.33-1 and 42% in G-0.52-1 beams in comparison to
S-0.33-1 and S-0.52-1. It is pointing towards higher tensile strength of GFRP
bars in comparison to steel reinforced beams. But as the reinforcement ratio
increases from 0.52 to 1.1% there is a slightly 5.09% decrease in load-carrying
capacity in G-1.11-1 beam as compared to S-1.11-1 beam due to increase brittleness
with higher ρ. It points towards a lower modulus of elasticity of GFRP bars as
compared to steel bars.

4.5 Modes of failure

The design of both steel-RC and GFRP-RC is based on ACI Code [8, 34]. The
GFRP-RC beams were designed as over-reinforced beams with a reinforcement
ratio of 0.0052 [8] which was greater than the balanced reinforcement ratio of
0.00308 [34]. The steel-RC beams were designed as under-reinforced beams
having a reinforcement ratio (0.0052) less than the balanced reinforcement ratio of
0.02. A compression failure for the GFRP-RC beams and a tension failure for the
steel beams were expected during flexural testing. The observed modes of failure of

Figure 9.
Variation in an average experimental moment carrying capacities Vs ‘ρ’.

11
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 10.
Failure modes in steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams. (a) S-0.33-1. (b) G-0.33-1. (c) S-0.52-1. (d) G-0.52-1.
(e) S-1.11-1. (f) G-1.11-1.

steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams are presented in Figure 10. Steel-RC beam failed
by the crushing of concrete after the tension reinforcement yielded (Figure 10a,
c, and e) whereas the GFRP-RC beam failed typically in shear followed by
concrete crushing (Figure 10b, d, and f) since they are designed as over-
reinforced beams to prevent their failure by GFRP rupture. This indicates that
even though both steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams have the same area of tension
reinforcement (Ast) ratio, GFRP-RC beams experience a different mode of
failure as compared to the steel-reinforced concrete beam. Therefore, some modifi-
cation in the design has to be considered when the GFRP bar is to be used as
reinforcement.
A comparison of theoretical and experimental moment carrying capacities of
steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams is presented in Table 4. The ratio of Mth/Mexp is less
than 1 for both steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams. Thus, for design purposes, the
strength reduction factor (Ø) for all over reinforced GFRP reinforced beams is
calculated by Eq. (1). The theoretical moment of resistance (Mth) in the case of the
GFRP-RC beam is calculated by Eq. (1) [8].
" #
ff
M th ¼ ρ f f f 1  0:59ρ f 0 bd 2 (1)
fc

On the other hand, the theoretical moment of resistance (Mth) in the case of the
steel-RC beam is calculated by the formula given in Eq. (2) [34]

fy
M th ¼ ρ f f f 1  0:59ρ f 0 bd 2 (2)
" f c#

where Mth = theoretical bending moment resistance, ρf = reinforcement ratio,

b = width of the beam, d = effective depth of the beam, f’c = Design characteristic

12
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

concrete compressive strength. Where, ρfb = balanced reinforcement ratio,

ρ f = actual reinforcement ratio and Ø = 0.65 for ρf ≥ 1.4 ρfb [8]. For under-
reinforced steel beams, the strength reduction factor is taken as 0.9 (ACI 319,
(2019)). The fracture/failure and cracking pattern in the two differently reinforced
beams along with a varying percentage of tension reinforcement ratio are further
studied using acoustic emission in Section 5 respectively.

Figure 11.
Typical crack patterns. (a) Damage level I. (b) Damage level II. (c) Damage level III.

Figure 12.
Damage level classification.

13
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

4.6 Damage classification

From the load-deflection plots of steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams, as shown in

Figures 12, 14, and 16 the development of cracking patterns as shown in
Figures 11, 13, and 15) in the two beams can be classified into three damage
levels. Damage level I refers to the phase when the invisible cracking occurs. This
damage zone is differentiated from the un-damaged state by the formation of

Figure 13.
Typical crack patterns. (a) Damage level I. (b) Damage level II. (c) Damage level III.

Figure 14.
Damage level classification.

14
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

Figure 15.
Typical crack patterns. (a) Damage level I. (b) Damage level II. (c) Damage level III.

Figure 16.
Damage level classification.

visible hairline cracks and a distinct decrease in the stiffness of the beam is
observed. Damage level II refers to the phase between the formation of hairline
cracks and the stage of steel yielding in the case of the steel-RC beams and 1st drop-
in load in case of GFRP-RC beam and further leading to the formation of distributed
flexural and shear cracks. Damage level III refers to the phase between the steel
yielding and final failure caused due to concrete crushing in the SB beam. In the
case of GB beams, this refers to the phase between 1st drop in load and the final

15
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 17.
Variation in AF Vs RA values at different levels of damages. (a) Damage level I. (b) Damage level II.
(c) Damage level III.

failure due to the crushing of compressive concrete. The formation of crack patterns
at different levels of loading and the development of the different damage levels in
steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams are shown in Figures 11–16 respectively.

5. Acoustic emission results

5.1 Average frequency (AF) and rise angle (RA)

A parametric analysis was performed between AF and RA values by moving

averages based on over 100 AE hits [20, 25]. In the present case, the proportion of
AF and RA values are likewise set to 1:200. The plot of Average frequency (AF) and
rise angle (RA) values for all three damage levels, for S-series and G-series RC
beams, is shown in Figures 17–19 respectively. AF-RA value plot gives a fair indi-
cation of the cracking modes in steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams and is used for crack
classification. The diagonal line represents the transition line between tensile and
shear cracks and is used as a reference line for crack classification.
In damage level I, the plot of AF-RA for the S-0.33-1, S-0.52-1, and S-1.11-1 RC
beam (Figures 17(a), 18(a), and 19(a)) shows the development of cracks initially

16
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

Figure 18.
Variation in AF vs. RA values at different levels of damages. (a) Damage level I. (b) Damage level II.
(c) Damage level III.

due to tensile cracking whereas for the G-0.33-1, G-0.52-1, and G-1.11-1 RC beam, it
is in shear cracking mode (Figures 17(a), 18(a), and 19(a)). A high average AF
value of 32.2, 53.73, and 50.64 kHz with a lower RA value of 579.9, 398.78, and
205.0 μs values were noticed in the S-0.33-1, S-0.52-1, and S-1.11-1 RC beam as
against lower average AF value of 15.0, 16.20, and 26.73 kHz and a higher RA value
of 6432.5, 7324.80, and 10752.52 μs for the G-0.33-1, G-0.52-1, and G-1.11-1 RC
beam (Tables 5-7), respectively. These values indicate that the steel-RC beams can
resist and bridge the cracks better owing to the perfect bond between concrete and
steel and the high modulus of elasticity of steel bars as compared to GFRP
reinforced concrete beams. In this damage level, the hairline cracks were visible in
both beams.
With the increasing load in damage level II, invisible cracking is observed in the
steel-RC beam at higher AF and smaller RA value indicating tensile cracking mode
whereas, in the case of the GFRP-RC beam, a reversed trend is observed with a
slight increase in average AF value and drop in RA value pointing towards a shift
from shear to tensile cracking in the GFRP-RC beam (Figures 17(b), 18(b), and
19(b)). Further, in damage level III, a slight decrease in the average AF value of
37.3, 40.99, and 47.41 kHz with a minute increase in the RA value of 1327.0, 1225.25,
and 454.92 μs value was noticed in the S-0.33-1, S-0.52-1, and S-1.11-1 RC beam. A

17
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 19.
Variation in AF vs. RA values at different levels of damages. (a) Damage level I. (b) Damage level II.
(c) Damage level III.

Damage level Rise angle Average frequency

S1 G1 S1 G1

I 579.9 6432.5 32.2 15.0

II 427.9 5157.2 41.1 25.5

III 1327.0 3317.6 37.3 42.2

Table 5.
Variation in RA and AF values in S-0.33-1 and G-0.33-1 RC beams.

Damage level Rise angle Average frequency

S2 G2 S2 G2

I 398.78 7324.8 53.73 16.20

II 315.21 5956.17 56.72 27.65

III 1225.257 5130.68 40.99 43.66

Table 6.
Variation in RA and AF values in S-0.52-1 and G-0.52-1 RC beams.

18
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

Damage level Rise angle Average frequency

S3 G3 S3 G3

I 205 10752.52 50.64 26.73

II 238.79 7829.34 50.71 26.81

III 454.922 5255 47.41 39.4

Table 7.
Variation in RA and AF values in S-0.1.11-1 and G-1.11-1 RC beams.

plausible explanation for this can be attributed to the reduction in the

cross-sectional area due to the yielding of steel bars in the steel-RC beam.
On the other hand, a continuous increase in AF value of 42.2, 43.66, and
39.40 kHz with a significantly lower RA value of 3317.6, 5130.68, and 5255 μs was
noticed in the G-0.33-1, G-0.52-1, and G-1.11-1 RC beam (Figures 17(c), 18(c) and
19(c)). AFRA plots at the failure point suggest that the steel-RC beam experiences
flexural cracks localisation as shown in Figure 10a, c, and e, whereas the
GFRP-RC beam experiences shear cracking as also observed visually as shown in
Figure 10b, d, and f.
Hence, AF-RA plots can be exploited to predict the initiation and progression of
invisible and visible crack formation in concrete as indicated by the density of dots
in the plot of the AFRA value. Hence, the AE plot of AF and RA value can effec-
tively demonstrate the variation in initiation and progression of damage, classifica-
tion of cracking, and failure modes in steel as well as GFRP-reinforced beams.

5.2 AE XY plots monitoring

To further understand the sequences of AE events, their locations within the

steel-RC and GFRP-RC beam have been plotted at different times in the form of
event maps. The locations of the AE events during the entire process of damage are
presented in X-Y plots and these AE XY-event plot profiles were obtained by using
AE-win software (Figures 20–28). It may be recalled that the cracks can be located
only in the zones covered by the AE sensors. Every crack is labelled as an event
recorded by three or more sensors. The red spawn (dots) in AE plots represents the
location of each AE event recorded to indicate the frontal surface condition of the
steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams at different stages of damage under flexural loading.
AET is supposed to increase the efficiency of structural inspection by indicating the
initiation and progression of cracking and the surface strains in the two types of
beams respectively.
It is apparent from Figures 20(a), 23(a), and 26(b) that, during the damage
level I i.e., at cracking loads of 5.58, 6.99, and 9.54 kN for S-0.33-1, S-0.52-1, and
S-1.11-1 RC beam and 7.89, 8.01, and 10.31 kN for G-0.33-1, G-0.52-1, and G-
1.11-1 RC beam respectively. It is indicated by the appearance of AE events in the
XY-plot at the same instant which suggests the formation of invisible cracks in
steel-RC and GFRP-RC at the same location as shown in Figures 20(b), 23(b), and
26(b). Hence, it can be concluded that invisible cracking which is not visible to the
naked eye can be reliably displayed by AE XY- event plots.
Further, with an increase in loading, it is visually observed that at a yield load
(Py) of 28.93, 45.85, and 81.44 kN in S-0.33-1, S-0.52-1, and S-1.11-1 RC beam the
earlier invisible crack starts to become visible and eventually coalesce together to
form visible cracks propagating vertically upwards. This indicates the progression
of damage to level II as shown in Figures 21(a), 24(a), and 27(a). These cracks do

19
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 20.
(a) Beam sample (b) AE XY plots at damage level I.

Figure 21.
(a) Beam sample (b) AE XY plots at damage level II.

not result in sudden failure of the beam as their propagation is arrested by the
presence of shear stirrups. On the contrary, in the case of the GFRP-RC beams,
owing to the elastic behaviour of GFRP bars, the beam continues to carry load
linearly and invisible cracking is observed at a load of 33.6, 51.80, and 57.46 kN.
On the other hand, the AE event plot shows the congregation of red dots pointing
towards the coalescence of invisible cracks into visible cracks at approximately (1.2,
1.2, and 1.1) m and (1.3, 1.2, and 1.1) m distance from the left support for S-0.33-1,

20
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

Figure 22.
(a) Beam sample (b) AE location- XY plots at damage level III.

Figure 23.
(a) Beam sample (b) AE XY plots at damage level I. (c) Beam span (m).

Figure 24.
(a) Beam sample (b) AE XY plots at damage level II.

21
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 25.
(a) Beam sample (b) AE location- XY plots at damage level III.

Figure 26.
(a) Beam sample (c) AE XY plots at damage level I.

S-0.52-1, and S-1.11-1 RC and G-0.33-1, G-0.52-1, and G-1.11-1 RC beams. This is in
a close match with the actually cracked beam and the same can also be observed in
the actual beam sample and compared with the AE X-Y plots (Figures 21(b),
24(b), and 27(b)).
With further loading i.e. damage level III, the steel bars yield leading to flexural
failure followed by concrete crushing (Figures 22(a), 25(a), and 28(a)). The same
can also be confirmed with the actual beam sample. Moreover, the G-0.33-1, G-
0.52-1, and G-1.11-1beams fail typically in shear followed by concrete crushing at
damage level III. The corresponding ultimate load of 48.94, 56.74, and 76.98 kN in
G-0.33-1, G-0.52-1, and G-1.11-1beams and is also depicted by extremely dense AE
event plots at the same locations at 1.33, 1.33, and 1.33 m from the left support in

22
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

Figure 27.
(a) Beam sample (c) AE XY plots at damage level II.

Figure 28.
(a) Beam sample (b) AE location- XY plots at damage level III.

Figures 22(b), 25(b), and 28(b). A clear trajectory of transverse vertical cracks is
also observed from the AE event plot. This is also validated by the image of the
actually cracked beams. Thus, AE events maps provide a reliable and real-time
indication of the initiation and progression of cracking inside concrete in steel as
well as GFRP-RC beams undergoing flexural loading.
Hence, it can be concluded that AE has the potential to serve as an online non-
destructive monitor that can map the progression of cracking in RC structures.
Various AE parameters like cumulative AE hits and their amplitudes, the plot of AF,
and RA can effectively capture the initiation and progression of cracking in the steel
and GFRP-RC beams, much before these are visible to the naked eye. Moreover, AE
XY-plot has ample potential to serve as an effective tool to monitor cracking in the
terms of AE XY-plot, and much before the actual cracking is visible to the naked

23
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

eye. Hence, the advanced AE tools can be effectively used in conjunction with NDE
of various types of RC structures incorporating steel as well as GFRP bars.

6. Conclusion

The focus of this chapter is to critically investigate and differentiate between the
flexural and cracking behaviour of steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams utilising a non-
destructive technique of AE. The following conclusions are drawn from the study:

• The load-deflection plot of steel and GFRP reinforced beams shows contrasting
profiles. With increasing reinforcement ratio, steel-reinforced beams show
typically an increase in ultimate load-carrying capacity, shrinking plastic zone
with reduced ductility, and failure taking place at the much lower strains. All
the steel-RC beams failed in flexure followed by concrete crushing. On the
other hand, GFRP reinforced beams exhibit bi-linear load-deflection response
up to the failure without any yielding or with higher ultimate load-carrying
capacities and higher deflections as compared to steel reinforced beams
indicating enhanced ductility and ultimate strength. All the GFRP-RC beams
failed in shear and were followed by concrete crushing.

• Surface-mounted passive AE sensors give an early warning of initiation of

micro-cracking inside concrete well depicted by low amplitude AE hits with
the progression of failure in the form of macro cracking displayed by AE hits of
larger amplitudes in steel as well as GFRP reinforced concrete beams. The
amplitude and the cumulative number of AE hits are well indicative of the
initiation and progression of invisible and visible cracking in the RC beam in
the form of well-defined AE activity phases. A striking contrast in the AE
activity is observed in steel and GFRP reinforced beams.

• AE XY-event plots give a pictorial representation of various stages of onset,

initiation, and progression of cracking in steel and GFRP reinforced concrete
beams in terms of their origin, location their rates of growth. A close matching
and coherence are observed between the AE XY-event map with the micro and
macro-cracks visually observed in the actual beams at various stages of loading.

24
Crack Classification in Steel-RC and GFRP-RC Beams with Varying Reinforcement Ratio Using…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101305

References

[1] Valdez B, Ramirez J, Eliezer A, structures: State-of-the-art review of

Schorr M, Ramos R, Salinas R. Corrosion application and design. Engineering
assessment of infrastructure assets in Structures and Technologies. 2013;5(4):
coastal seas. Journal of Marine 147-158
Engineering & Technology. 2016;15(3):
124-134 [10] Nanni A, Dolan CW. Fibre-
reinforced-plastic (FRP) reinforcement
[2] Bhaskaran R, Bhalla L, Rahman A, for concrete structures. In: Properties
Juneja S, Sonik U, Kaur S, et al. An and Application, Developments in Civil
analysis of the updated cost of corrosion Engineering. 1993. 248 p
in India. Materials Performance. 2014;
53(8):56-65 [11] Triantafillou TC, Antonopoulos CP.
Design of concrete flexural members
[3] Gu L, Meng XH. Review on research strengthened in shear with FRP. Journal
and application of stainless steel of Composites for Construction. 2000;
reinforced concrete. In: MATEC Web of 4(4):198-205
Conferences. Vol. 63. EDP Sciences;
2016. p. 03003 [12] ACI 440.1R-06. Guide for the
Design and Construction of Concrete
[4] Manning DG. Corrosion Reinforced with FRP Bar. Farmington
performance of epoxy-coated Hills, MI, USA: American Concrete
reinforcing steel: North American Institute; 2006
experience. Construction and Building
Materials. 1996;10(5):349-365 [13] Kalpana VG, Subramanian K.
Behavior of concrete beams reinforced
[5] El-Hacha R, Mirmiran A, Cook A, with GFRP BARS. Journal of Reinforced
Rizkalla S. Effectiveness of surface- Plastics and Composites. 2011;30(23):
applied corrosion inhibitors for concrete 1915-1922
bridges. Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering. 2011;23(3):271-280 [14] Goldston M, Remennikov A, Sheikh
MN. Experimental investigation of the
[6] Stankiewicz A, Szczygieł I, Szczygieł behaviour of concrete beams reinforced
B. Self-healing coatings in anti-corrosion with GFRP bars under static and impact
applications. Journal of Materials loading. Engineering Structures. 2016;
Science. 2013;48(23):8041-8051 113:220-232

[7] Giannaros P, Kanellopoulos A, Al- [15] Mufti AA, Onofrei MB, Benmokrane
Tabbaa A. Sealing of cracks in cement B, Banthia N, Boulfiza M, Newhook JP,
using microencapsulated sodium et al. Field study of glass-fibre-
silicate. Smart Materials and Structures. reinforced polymer durability in
2016;25(8):084005 concrete. Canadian Journal of Civil
Engineering. 2007;34(3):355-366
[8] ACI Committee 440.1R-15. Guide for
the Design and Construction of [16] Goldston MW, Remennikov A,
Structural Concrete Reinforced With Sheikh MN. Flexural behaviour of GFRP
Firber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Bars reinforced high strength and ultra high
(ACI440.1R-15). 2015 strength concrete beams. Construction
and Building Materials. 2017;131:606-617
[9] Gudonis E, Timinskas E, Gribniak V,
Kaklauskas G, Arnautov AK, Tamulėnas [17] Krasniqi C, Kabashi N, Krasniqi E,
V. FRP reinforcement for concrete Kaqi V. Comparison of the behavior of

25
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

GFRP reinforced concrete beams with [26] Dunn SE, Young JD, Hartt WH,
conventional steel bars. Pollack Brown RP. Acoustic emission
Periodica. 2018;13(3):141-150 characterization of corrosion induced
damage in reinforced concrete.
[18] Theriault M, Benmokrane B. Effects Corrosion. 1984;40(7):339-343
of FRP reinforcement ratio and concrete
strength on flexural behavior of [27] Aggelis DG, Soulioti D, Barkoula
concrete beams. Journal of Composites NM, Paipetis AS, Matikas TE, Shiotani
for Construction. 1998;2(1):7-16 T. Acoustic emission monitoring of
steel-fiber reinforced concrete beams
[19] Gholizadeh S, Leman Z, Baharudin under bending. Journal of Acoustic
BH. A review of the application of Emission. 2008;14:287-294
acoustic emission technique in
engineering. Structural Engineering and [28] Aggelis DG, De Sutter S,
Mechanics. 2015;54(6):1075-1095 Verbruggen S, Tsangouri E, Tysmans T.
Acoustic emission characterization of
[20] Ohno K, Ohtsu M. Crack
damage sources of lightweight hybrid
classification in concrete based on
concrete beams. Engineering Fracture
acoustic emission. Construction and
Mechanics. 2019;210:181-188
Building Materials. 2010;24(12):
2339-2346 [29] Sharma G, Sharma S, Sharma SK.
Non-destructive evaluation of steel and
[21] Sharma A, Sharma S, Sharma S,
GFRP reinforced beams using AE and
Mukherjee A. Investigation of
DIC techniques. Structural Engineering
deterioration in corroding reinforced
concrete beams using active and passive and Mechanics. 2021;77(5):637-650
techniques. Construction and Building
[30] Yuan Q , Shi C, De Schutter G,
Materials. 2018a;161:555-569
Audenaert K, Deng D. Chloride binding
[22] Sharma A, Sharma S, Sharma S, of cement-based materials subjected to
Mukherjee A. Monitoring invisible external chloride environment–a
corrosion in concrete using a review. Construction and Building
combination of wave propagation Materials. 2009;23(1):1-3
techniques. Cement and Concrete
Composites. 2018b;90:89-99 [31] IS 10262. Indian Standard Code for
Concrete Mix Proportioning Guidelines
[23] Garhwal S, Sharma S, Sharma SK. (First Revision). New Delhi, India:
Monitoring the flexural performance of Bureau of Indian Standards; 2009
GFRP repaired corroded reinforced
concrete beams using passive acoustic [32] IS 10262. Indian Standard Code for
emission technique. Structural Concrete Mix Proportioning Guidelines
Concrete. 2021;22(1):198-214 (First Revision). New Delhi India:
Bureau of Indian Standards; 2008
[24] Ohtsu M, Mori K, Kawasaki Y.
Corrosion process and mechanisms of [33] ASTM D7205. Standard test Method
corrosion-induced cracks in reinforced for Tensile Properties of Fiber Reinforced
concrete identified by AE analysis. Polymer Matrix Composite Bars. West
Strain. 2011;47:179-186 Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA:
ASTM International; 2006
[25] Prem PR, Murthy AR. Acoustic
emission monitoring of reinforced [34] ACI 319. Building Code
concrete beams subjected to four-point- Requirements for Structural Concrete
bending. Applied Acoustics. 2017;117: and Commentary. Farmington Hills, MI,
28-38 USA: American Concrete Institute; 2019

26
 Chapter 3

Application of Acoustic Emissions

Technique in Assessment of
Cracking Performance of Asphalt
Pavement Materials
BehzadBehnia

Abstract

This chapter focuses on various applications of acoustic emissions (AE) technique

in evaluation of cracking in asphalt pavements including (1) assessment of low-
temperature cracking of asphalt binders and mixtures and (2) quantitative charac-
terization of rejuvenators’ efficiency in restoring aged asphalt pavements to their
crack-resistant state. The AE-based embrittlement temperature results of 24 different
asphalt materials consisting of eight different binders, each at three oxidative aging
levels are presented. Results show that embrittlement temperatures correlated well
with corresponding bending beam rheometer (BBR-based) critical cracking tempera-
tures with R2 = 0.85. This chapter also presents application of AE for evaluation of reju-
venators’ efficiency on asphalt materials at various oxidative aging levels. The Geiger’s
iterative source location method was employed to accurately determine embrittlement
temperatures throughout the thickness of rejuvenator-treated asphalt samples. Results
showed that the low temperature cracking properties of oxidative aged materials after
2 weeks of dwell time of rejuvenator have been recuperated. Moreover, it was observed
that cracking characteristics of aged asphalt 6–8 weeks after applying rejuvenator far
exceeded that of the virgin materials. The promising results suggest that the AE tech-
nique can be considered as a viable approach for the assessment of low temperature
behavior of asphalt pavements.

Keywords: acoustic emission, thermal cracking, asphalt pavements, bending beam

rheometer, source location, rejuvenator, oxidative aging

. Introduction

As an important component of the transportation infrastructure, asphalt pavement

is composed of multi-layer complex system of different materials subjected to vari-
ous combinations of traffic as well as environmental loadings. During their lifetime
asphalt pavements experience various forms of distresses as they undergo oxidative
aging, freeze-thaw cycles, and traffic repetitions. One of the most widespread type of
deterioration in asphalt roads which shortens the pavement life and results in prema-
ture failure of the pavement structure is cracking. An accurate and realistic assessment
of cracking performance of asphalt pavements has remained as a challenging task for
civil engineers.


Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

The AE technique has become very popular in recent decades due to its unique
ability in detecting and locating microstructural failures in different types of
materials. This method has been successfully used for damage detection of various
materials such as steel, concrete, wood, and rock. However, for the case of asphalt
roads, there has been only a limited application of this technology in damage assess-
ment of asphalt pavements. In one of the studies Khosla and Goetz [1] used the
acoustic emission approach at low temperatures to locate crack initiation and propa-
gation in indirect tensile (IDT) asphalt concrete specimens. They found that the
material failure due to fracture was accompanied by a sudden increase in total AE
counts where a big portion of AE counts occurred at about 80% of the peak load. In
another study conducted by Valkering and Jongeneel [2], AE technique was imple-
mented to carefully monitor the thermally-induced cracking in asphalt concrete
materials subjected to low temperature cooling cycles (−10°C to −40°C). Results
showed that the AE activity of the material such as number of events were strongly
correlated with the extent of thermal fracture in the specimens. Results also demon-
strated that at low temperatures the source of AE activities in restrained specimens
were crack initiation originated from defects exists in the material. In the research
study performed by Hesp et al. [3] the AE method was employed for restrained
asphalt concrete specimens at low temperatures (−32°C to −20°C) to measure and
to detect crack initiation and propagation in the restrained samples. They compared
the total amount of AE activities in different mixtures and found that the styrene-
butadiene-styrene (SBS)-modified asphalt concrete materials exhibited less AE
activities as compared to that of for the unmodified asphalt concrete mixes. The AE
approach was implemented by Li et al. [4–8] to evaluate and to quantify fracture
in semi-circular bending (SCB) asphalt specimens at −20°C. They concluded that
most of the AE activities in the material happens at about 70% of the material
strength. Their results also showed that the maximum intensity of AE amplitudes
correlated well with the extent of macrocracking damage in the specimen. They
also found that the location of AE events is the good indicator of approximate size
of the fracture process zone (FPZ). Nesvijski and Marasteanu [9, 10] in another
research study, used the AE spectral analysis approach at low temperatures in order
to investigate and assess fracture in semi-circular bending (SCB) asphalt samples.
They were able to successfully demonstrate that the AE approach could be applied
for accurate characterization of cracking in asphalt concrete materials.
This chapter will focus on various applications of the acoustic emission tech-
nique in asphalt pavements including: (1) assessing the low-temperature cracking
performance of asphalt binders and asphalt pavement materials (2) use of acoustic
emission technique for quantitative evaluation of restoring aged asphalt pavements
with rejuvenators.

. Implementation of AE approach for low-temperature cracking

assessment of asphalt binders and asphalt concrete materials

Low temperature cracking, a.k.a. thermal cracking, is a very common type of

damage occurring in asphalt pavements located either in regions with cold climates
or in milder climate regions with large daily temperature fluctuations. In asphalt
pavements built in cold climates with severe winters, thermal cracking usually
happens as a result of fast cooling rates (single-event thermal cracking). On the
other hand, in asphalt roads located in regions with milder climate, thermal cracks
develop at a slower rate, and it usually takes several cooling cycles for cracks to initi-
ate and propagate through the pavement thickness (thermal fatigue cracking) [11].
When the temperature drops, surface of the pavement has the lowest temperature,


Application of Acoustic Emissions Technique in Assessment of Cracking Performance of Asphalt…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101541

and the temperature changes are highest there. Thermal tensile stresses develop
in the restrained pavement layer due to the change in pavement temperature. The
thermally-induced stresses are greatest in the longitudinal direction of the road
which will lead to formation of transversely-oriented surface-initiated thermal
cracks of various lengths and widths along the road.
Numerous research studies have demonstrated that the low temperature char-
acteristics of asphalt pavements are closely related to that of the asphalt binder
used in pavement construction. The AE method is implemented to evaluate the
thermal cracking in asphalt binders. The AE binder sample consists of a 6mm thick
layer of asphalt binder bonded to an aluminum plate. To conduct the test, prepared
specimens are placed inside the freezer and exposed to decreasing temperatures,
ranging from 20°C to −40°C, or even to −50°C, if necessary for some polymer
modified binders. To continuously monitor and record the sample temperature,
a K-type thermocouple is placed on the specimens’ surface. Due to the relatively
small size of the AE sample, there is a thermal lag at the beginning of the test,
which becomes negligible at temperature lower than −10°C. Differential thermal
contraction between aluminum and asphalt binder induces progressively higher
thermal stresses in the binder leading to formation of thermal cracks in the mate-
rial. Thermal cracks formation in the sample is accompanied by a release of elastic
energy in the form of transient waves which could be picked up using the AE piezo-
electric sensor(s) mounted on aluminum plate. The critical cracking temperature,
a.k.a. the embrittlement temperature, of the asphalt binders tested are determined
by processing and analyzing the emitted elastic waves captured during the tests
using the AE technique. Figure a schematically illustrates an AE testing sample of
asphalt binder with an aluminum substrate [12–21].
To conduct the AE test for asphalt concrete materials, a semicircular-shaped
asphalt concrete sample with a 50°mm thickness and a 150°mm diameter is used
as the testing specimen, see Figure b. The testing sample for asphalt concrete
can be fabricated from either field cores or from gyratory compacted samples. To
conduct the AE test, similar to the binder test, the prepared AE sample is subjected
to decreasing temperatures ranging from 20°C to -40°C and the acoustic activities
and temperature of asphalt material test sample is continuously monitored and
recorded using piezoelectric AE sensors and a K-type thermocouple, respectively.
The source of acoustic emission activities in asphalt concrete materials is formation
of thermally-induced microdamages within the asphalt mastic. As a heterogeneous
viscoelastic material, the thermally induced stresses develop in asphalt concrete due
to the thermal contraction mismatch between aggregates and surrounding asphalt
mastic [12–26].
The acoustic emission testing set up used for assessing asphalt materials consists
of several wideband piezoelectric AE sensors along with pre-amplifiers and data
acquisition system with processing and analysis software. The Digital Wave-Model
B1025 wideband AE sensors with nominal frequency range of 20kHz to 1.5MHz
used in this study in order to record and continuously monitor AE activities of the
material while conducting the experiment. To reduce extraneous noise, the AE
signals picked up by AE sensors are first pre-amplified 20dB using broad-band pre-
amplifiers. Then AE signals are amplified again 21dB for a total of 41dB. At the end
signals are filtered using a 20kHz high-pass double-pole filter through using the sig-
nal conditioning unit. A 16-bit analog to digital converter (ICS 645B-8) with 2MHz
sampling frequency and a length of 2048 points per channel per acquisition trigger
are used to digitize the signals and outputs are stored for the post-processing.
In general there are two methods normally used to analyze AE signals: (1) the
“classic” or “parameter-based” method; (2) the “quantitative” or “signal-based”
approach. In the first approach, the AE signals are not recorded, instead only some


Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 1.
AE testing samples used for (a) asphalt binders (b) asphalt concrete materials.

AE parameters are recorded and analyzed. Whereas in the signal-based approach,

the actual AE signals are recorded and used to analyze the materials microstructure.
The failure and microdamage occurring in the material could generate significant
number of AE signals within a very short time generating big amount of AE data. In
the parameter-based method only some rudimentary analysis can be performed on
AE data however it is faster than the quantitative method. On the other hand, while
the signal-based approach is slower, it is capable of more sophisticated analysis of
performance of the material.
For evaluation of thermal cracking in asphalt materials, both parameter-based
and signal-based techniques were implemented on recorded AE signals and associ-
ated test temperature. AE event is an individual waveform with the threshold of
0.1V and the energy level equal to or greater than 4V2μs. The emitted energy asso-
ciated with each event is one of the important characteristics of an AE signal and
can be calculated using Eq. (1), where EAE is the AE energy of an event (V2μsec)
with duration of time t (μsec) and recorded voltage of V(t) [1].

t
E AE = ∫V 2 ( t ) dt (1)
0

Figure  shows a typical plot of AE events counts versus temperature for typi-
cal asphalt binder and asphalt concrete AE tests which consists of four distinct


Application of Acoustic Emissions Technique in Assessment of Cracking Performance of Asphalt…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101541

regions, namely: (1) pre-cracking, (2) transition, (3) stable cracking, and (4) fully
cracked regions. In the “pre-cracking region”, thermally-induced stresses in the
sample are building up and they are still below the strength of the material. As a
result no damage and consequently no AE events are observed within this region.
In the “transition” region, as soon as the thermal stresses reach the strength of the
material, microdamages form in the material which manifests itself as a cluster of
high amplitude AE events. The temperature corresponding to the AE event with the
first peak energy within the transition region has been termed the “embrittlement
temperature,” as shown in Figure . The embrittlement temperature is the onset
of damage in asphalt material. Results has demonstrated that the embrittlement
temperature is a fundamental material state which is independent of material
constraint, sample size (as long as a statistically representative volume or larger is
used), and sample shape [15]. In the “transition region”, material behavior gradually
changes from a quasi-brittle to a brittle state where resistance to fracture is generally
very low, allowing microdamages to propagate readily.
The third region is the “stable cracking region” which normally initiates at a very
low temperatures when the material is brittle. Significant amount of AE activities
are observed during this region. The last region, is the “fully cracked region” where
the rate of AE activities of the sample begins to reduce until it reaches almost zero
at the end of this region. The AE activities originate from formation of new micro-
damage inside the sample. Thus reduction in the rate of AE activity can be linked
to the presence of plenty of microdamage in the sample. This region is usually
observed when the sample is cooled down to very cold temperatures allowing all
microdamage to develop within the sample [15].
Figure  illustrates the typical envelope locus of AE event energies of asphalt
samples and demonstrates the intensity of the released energies of AE events. In the
pre-cracking region, the envelope locus is zero and suddenly at the beginning of the
transition region it jumps to its maximum magnitude. The magnitude of AE event
energies gradually tapers off in stable cracking region until it reaches almost zero in
the fully cracked region.
The histogram presented in Figure  shows the graphical representation of the
distribution of AE events energies for asphalt materials. Results suggest that only a
small portion of AE events are high energy events while the rest of the events are in
fact low energy. Generally, the energy content of an event is proportional with the
size of the microdamage causing that event. The high energy events result from the
formation of large microcracks while the low energy AE events could be linked to
formation of hairline microcracks in the material.

Figure 2.
Typical AE event counts vs. temperature plot regions.


Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 3.
Typical plot of event count and AE energy vs. temperature [15].

Figure 4.
Typical envelope locus of AE events energy during thermal cooling [15].

The AE test results for 24 different types of asphalt materials (eight different
binders, each at three aging levels) including: AAA-1 (PG 58-28), AAB-1
(PG 58-22), AAC-1 (PG 58-16), AAD-1 (PG 58-28), AAF-1 (PG 64-10), AAG-1
(PG 58-10), AAK-1 (PG 64-22), AAM-1 (PG 64-16) are presented in Figure . In
this experiment each binder was tested at three aging levels: (1) unaged (TANK)
(2) short-term aged (RTFO), and (3) long-term aged (PAV). The ASTM D2872-04
(ASTM 2004) and ASTM D6521-05 (ASTM 2008) were used to perform the oxida-
tive aging process of RTFO and PAV binders, respectively. It should be mentioned
that in PG XX-YY used for expressing the Performance Grade of asphalt materials,
XX corresponds to the expected average high temperature of asphalt pavement over
a 7days, and YY is the lowest expected temperature of the pavement.
Results show that the AE embrittlement temperatures correlated well with
the bending beam rheometer (BBR-based) critical cracking temperatures with
R2 =0.85. Results suggest that AE-based embrittlement temperatures are lower
than the corresponding BBR-based critical cracking temperatures. This could be


Application of Acoustic Emissions Technique in Assessment of Cracking Performance of Asphalt…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101541

Figure 5.
Typical histogram of AE events energies for asphalt binder material [15].

Figure 6.
Correlation between AE embrittlement temperature and BBR-based cracking temperature illustrating the
conservative nature of the BBR-based cracking temperatures [21].

attributed to the fact that the AE-based embrittlement temperatures are directly
related to the cracking performance of the material while the BBR- base critical
temperatures are based upon the binder’s rheological material properties and
include an inherent factor of safety to avoid low-temperature pavement cracking.
In addition, numerous studies have demonstrated that AE approach is sensitive
to aging level of the material and could successfully evaluate asphalt materi-
als at different oxidative aging levels. Finding of different studies show that the
embrittlement temperature of asphalt materials is sensitive to aging levels, where
TEMB-TANK<TEMB-FTFO<TEMB-PAV.

. Use of acoustic emission technique for quantitative evaluation of

restoring aged asphalt pavements with rejuvenators

Oxidative aging is a common problem in asphalt pavements which leads to an

increase in stiffness and loss of ductility and cohesion of binders. It negatively


Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

affects the fracture resistance of pavements. Certain chemical properties of the

asphalt binders such as asphaltenes to maltenes ratio changes in the oxidation
process. The oxidation rate of asphalt materials is accelerated at high temperatures
and/or high exposure to ultraviolet light and air [21–26]. Different methods such
as pavement surface milling and the application of rejuvenators are employed to
restore asphalt pavements to their crack-resistant state. Application of rejuvenators
is one of the popular techniques to restore the physical and chemical properties of
aged asphalt materials. Rejuvenators change the asphaltenes to maltenes ratio to its
original state leading to softening the aged asphalt materials [21–26]. Rejuvenators
are generally sprayed on the surface of aged pavements. It is very important that
rejuvenator could penetrate the surface via capillary action and gravity and diffuse
through the aged asphalt.
Currently there is no standardized method to assess the performance of reju-
venators when applied in the field. The efficiency of rejuvenators is evaluated by
the following three methods which are cumbersome and time consuming and they
are not often used.: (1) estimating the penetration of rejuvenator in the pavement
by comparing the penetration value of the binder at 25°C in the asphalt binder
extracted from untreated and treated sample; (2) comparing the asphalt binders’
viscosity at 60°C obtained from untreated and treated cores; and (3) compar-
ing the amount of loss in aggregates in the abrasion test in untreated vs. treated
samples [26].
The AE source location approach has recently been employed to assess the
efficiency of rejuvenators in restoring aged asphalt materials to their original crack
resistant condition. The Geiger’s iterative source location method was used to
accurately detect the source of AE activities in the material [26, 27]. This iterative
technique is based on the Gauss-Newton algorithm. To build the arrival time func-
tion of the ith sensor, see Eq. (2), data from at least four sensors is required for the
Geiger’s method:

1
f i ( x , y , z , t ) = Ts + ( x i − X s )2 + ( y i − Ys )2 + ( z i − Z s )2 (2)
v

where ( X s , Ys , Zs ) represent the spatial coordinates of the AE source, ( xi , yi , zi )

is the coordinates of the i th sensor, v is the velocity of wave in the material, t i and
Ts represent the known receiving time and unknown AE source event occurring
time by the ith sensor, respectively. Taylor series is used to expand Eq. (2) at a point
( x0 , y0 , z0 ) , close to the actual source leading to Eq. (3):

fi ( x, y, z , t ) = f i (x0 , y0 , z0 , t0 ) +  i (3)

where i is the residual term, a.k.a. the correction vector, which is the difference
between the calculated arrival time and the observed arrival time with respect to
the ith sensor. The correction vector can be determined using the first order deriva-
tives of the arrival time function. The Geiger’s method tries to minimize the correc-
tion vector by going through several iterations of Eq. (4).

∂fi ∂f ∂f ∂f
i = δx + i δy + i δz + i δt (4)
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂t


Application of Acoustic Emissions Technique in Assessment of Cracking Performance of Asphalt…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101541

In this chapter results from one of the studies on evaluation of rejuvenators

on aged asphalt materials are presented where PG64-22 was used as the based
binder. The asphalt content of the mixture was 5.6% by weight and the gyratory
compacted specimens were made using a maximum aggregate size of 19mm. Some
specimens were aged in the oven for 2h at 155°C to simulate the aging level during
plant production. Part of the specimens were aged in the oven for 36h at 155°C (in
addition to the short term aging) to mimic the long term aged asphalt pavement
materials. The oxidative aging process was done on loose mixtures in order to obtain
uniformly-aged compacted samples. Figure  shows one of specimens with eight
AE sensors mounted on the top and bottom surfaces of the specimen, four sensors
on each side. To avoid numerical instability, AE sensors pattern at the bottom of the
specimen has a 45° offset angle with respect to the pattern of sensors coupled on the
top surface.
Some aged specimens were treated by spraying a thin layer of rejuvenator on
the top surface of the sample. The amount of rejuvenator used was 10% by weight

Figure 7.
(a) Oxidative aged AE testing sample with eight piezoelectric sensors, four sensors on each side. (b) AE testing
setup used for source location [21].


Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

of the asphalt binder. The rejuvenator-treated specimens were then stored for a
prescribed dwell time of 2, 4, 6, and 8weeks before performing the AE tests. After
each dwell time, specimens were tested using the same AE source location proce-
dure used to test the 36h and 2h aged specimens, allowing the estimation of the
embrittlement temperatures throughout the sample thickness.
To characterize the efficiency of rejuvenator on the aged asphalt materials,
the embrittlement temperatures of the material were determined throughout the
thickness of asphalt concrete samples by implementing the AE source location
method. Figure  illustrates the embrittlement temperatures results vs. sample
thickness for different aged asphalt concrete materials. The effect of oxidative
aging on the embrittlement temperature is clearly noticeable as the embrittlement
temperature of the short-term aged sample (−22°C) is lower than that of the 36h
aged samples (−13°C). It is also observed that for all specimens the embrittlement
temperatures of oxidative aged materials after 2weeks of dwell time of rejuvena-
tor have been recuperated. The test results obtained from samples after 6 and
8weeks of dwell time were quite surprising as the embrittlement temperatures of
the aforementioned samples far exceeded the embrittlement temperatures of the
virgin materials. Moreover, the method was also able to successfully capture the
embrittlement temperature gradation throughout the sample thickness for the dwell
times of 2 and 4weeks. This could be attributed to the fact that the rejuvenator has
had enough time to penetrate and act on the top material layers. Results suggest
that the AE method can be employed to accurately evaluate the graded embrittle-
ment temperature properties of oxidative aged asphalt pavements. One important
outcome of this study is that the AE approach can be used to intelligently select the
best maintenance strategies for oxidative aged asphalt roads through optimizing the
amounts of rejuvenators required to restore pavement to the original crack-resistant
condition, or by optimizing the relative amount of milling and surface replacement
of asphalt roads. In addition, the AE results obtained from source location approach
were found to be consistent with those of obtained from non-collinear ultrasonic
wave mixing method [28–31].

Figure 8.
Average measured embrittlement temperatures of rejuvenator-treated oven-aged asphalt concrete samples (for
36h at 135°C) after dwell times of 2, 4, 6 and 8weeks [21, 25, 26].


Application of Acoustic Emissions Technique in Assessment of Cracking Performance of Asphalt…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101541

. Concluding remarks

The acoustic emission approach has been successfully implemented to address

the shortage for accurate and reliable techniques to evaluate cracking performance
of asphalt pavements. In addition, the AE method has been applied for assessing the
efficiency of rejuvenator-treated pavements and to evaluate and characterize virgin,
short-term, and long-term asphalt binders and asphalt concrete materials. The AE
technique has also been employed in different areas such as evaluating asphalt pave-
ments containing recycled materials such as RAP or RAS, assessing the effect of cool-
ing cycles upon the structural integrity of pavements, and characterizing the thermal
cracking performance of graded, i.e., aged asphalt pavements. The promising results
from aforementioned studies suggest that the AE technique can be considered as a
viable approach for the assessment of asphalt pavements. Moreover, when used for
preventive maintenance and rehabilitation, AE method can serve as a powerful tool
in enhancing pavement sustainability. Both up-stream and down-stream suppliers
and producers of asphalt concrete binders could benefit from AE technique. The
up-stream supplies of polymer, chemical, and other additives (warm-mix additives,
antistrip agents) could use AE for rapid assessment of low-temperature character-
istics of trial formulations, and could quickly evaluate the compatibility of blended
additive systems. Asphalt mixture designers could take advantage of the AE technol-
ogy in order to verify binder grade selection and to optimize the amount of recycled
materials used in the pavement. Finally, the pavement owners could implement AE
for quality assurance of asphalt binders and asphalt mixtures, for periodic pave-
ment condition assessments, and for the scheduling of preventive maintenance and
rehabilitation, where pavement cracking is of concern.


Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

References

[1] Khosla NP, Goetz WH. Tensile [8] Li X, Marasteanu M. The fracture
characteristics of bituminous mixtures process zone in asphalt mixture at low
as affected by modified binders. Joint temperature. Engineering Fracture
Highway Research Project. Indiana, Mechanics. 2010;(7):1175-1190
USA: Purdue University and the Indiana
State Highway Commission; 1979 [9] Nesvijski E, Marasteanu M. Wavelet
transform and its applications to
[2] Valkering CP, Jongeneel DJ. Acoustic acoustic emission analysis of asphalt
emission for evaluating the relative cold cracking. Journal of Nondestructive
performance of asphalt mixes under Testing & Ultrasonics. 2007;:1-13.
thermal loading conditions (with
discussion). Journal of the Association [10] Nesvijski E, Marasteanu M. Spectral
of Asphalt Paving Technologists. analysis of acoustic emission of cold
1991;:160-187 cracking asphalt. Journal of
Nondestructive Testing & Ultrasonics.
[3] Hesp S, Terlouw T, Vonk W. Low 2006;(10)
temperature performance of SBS-
modified asphalt mixes. Asphalt Paving [11] Kim YR. Modeling of Asphalt
Technology. 2000;:540-573 Concrete. McGraw-Hill Construction.
New York, McGraw-Hill: ASCE Press;
[4] Li X, Marasteanu M. Evaluation of 2008. ISBN-13: 978-0071464628
the low temperature fracture resistance
of asphalt mixtures using the semi [12] Buttlar WG, Behnia B, Reis HM. An
circular bend. In Association of Asphalt acoustic emission-based test to determine
Paving Technologists-Proceedings of the asphalt binder and mixture embrittlement
Technology, AAPT. 2004;:401-426 temperature. NCHRP IDEA Project No.
144. Washington, D.C. USA:
[5] Li X, Marasteanu MO. Investigation Transportation Research Board; 2011
of low temperature cracking in asphalt
mixtures by acoustic emission. Road [13] Behnia B, Buttlar WG, Reis H,
materials and Pavement Design. Apeagye AK. Determining the
2006;(4):491-512 embrittlement temperature of asphalt
binders using an acoustic emission
[6] Li X, Marasteanu MO, Iverson N, approach. In: Proceedings of Structural
Labuz JF. Observation of crack Materials Technology Conference in
propagation in asphalt mixtures with New York; August 2010
acoustic emission. Transportation
Research Record: Journal of the [14] Behnia B, Dave E, Ahmed S,
Transportation Research Board. Buttlar W, Reis H. Effects of recycled
2006;(1):171-177 asphalt pavement amounts on low-
temperature cracking performance of
[7] Li X, Marasteanu M, Turos M. Study asphalt mixtures using acoustic
of low temperature cracking in asphalt emissions. Transportation Research
mixtures using mechanical testing and Record: Journal of the Transportation
acoustic emission methods. In Asphalt Research Board. 2011;:64-71
Paving Technology: Association of
Asphalt Paving Technologists- [15] Behnia B. An acoustic emission-
Proceedings of the Technical Sessions. based test to evaluate low temperature
Association of Asphalt Paving behavior of asphalt materials [Doctoral
Technologist. December dissertation]. Champaign: University of
2007;:427-453 Illinois at Urbana; 2013


Application of Acoustic Emissions Technique in Assessment of Cracking Performance of Asphalt…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101541

[16] Behnia B, Dave EV, Buttlar WG, [24] Sun Z, Farace N, Arnold JW,
Reis H. Characterization of embrittlement Behnia B, Buttlar WG, Reis H.
temperature of asphalt materials through Quantitative evaluation of rejuvenators
implementation of acoustic emission to restore embrittlement temperatures
technique. Construction and Building in oxidized asphalt mixtures using
Materials. 2016;:147-152 acoustic emission. In: Health
Monitoring of Structural and Biological
[17] Behnia B, Buttlar WG, Reis H. Systems. International Society for
Nondestructive low-temperature Optics and Photonics; Proceedings of
cracking characterization of asphalt the SPIE; 2015. Volume 9438, id.
materials. Journal of Materials in Civil 94381C, 14 pp. DOI: 10.1117/12.2082573
Engineering. 2016;(5):04016294
[25] Sun Z, Farace N, Behnia B,
[18] Behnia B, Buttlar WG, Reis H. Buttlar WG, Reis H. Quantitative
Nondestructive evaluation of thermal evaluation of rejuvenators to restore
damage in asphalt concrete materials. embrittlement temperatures in oxidized
Journal of Testing and Evaluation, asphalt mixtures using acoustic
ASTM. 2017;(6):1948-1958 emission. Journal of Acoustic Emission.
2015;:1-15
[19] Behnia B, Reis H. Self-healing of
thermal cracks in asphalt pavements. [26] Sun Z, Behnia B, Buttlar WG,
Construction and Building Materials. Reis H. Acoustic emission quantitative
2019;:316-322 evaluation of rejuvenators to restore
embrittlement temperatures to oxidized
[20] Hill B, Oldham D, Behnia B, asphalt mixtures. Construction and
Fini EH, Buttlar WG, Reis H. Evaluation Building Materials. 2016;:913-923
of low temperature viscoelastic
properties and fracture behavior of [27] Geiger L. Probability method for
bio-asphalt mixtures. International the determination of earthquake
Journal of Pavement Engineering. epicenters from the arrival time only.
2018;(4):362-369 Bulletin of St. Louis University.
1912;:60-71
[21] Behnia B, Buttlar WG, Reis H.
Evaluation of low-temperature cracking [28] Hill B, Behnia B, Buttlar WG,
performance of asphalt pavements using Reis H. Evaluation of warm mix asphalt
acoustic emission: A review. Applied mixtures containing reclaimed asphalt
Sciences. 2018;(2):306 pavement through mechanical
performance tests and an acoustic
[22] Hakimzadeh S, Behnia B, emission approach. Journal of Materials
Buttlar WG, Reis H. Implementation of in Civil Engineering. 2013;(12):
nondestructive testing and mechanical 1887-1897
performance approaches to assess low
temperature fracture properties of [29] Hill B, Behnia B, Hakimzadeh S,
asphalt binders. International Journal of Buttlar WG, Reis H. Evaluation of
Pavement Research and Technology. low-temperature cracking performance
2017;(3):219-227 of warm-mix asphalt mixtures.
Transportation Research Record. 2012;
[23] ME MG, Behnia B, Buttlar WG, (1):81-88
Reis H. Use of nonlinear acoustic
measurements for estimation of fracture [30] Hill B, Oldham D, Behnia B, Fini EH,
performance of aged asphalt mixtures. Buttlar WG, Reis H. Low-temperature
Transportation Research Record. performance characterization of
2017;(1):11-19 biomodified asphalt mixtures that


Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

contain reclaimed asphalt pavement.

Transportation Research Record.
2013;(1):49-57

[31] Arnold JW, Behnia B, ME MG,

Hill B, Buttlar WG, Reis H. Quantitative
evaluation of low-temperature
performance of sustainable asphalt
pavements containing recycled asphalt
shingles (RAS). Construction and
Building Materials. 2014;:1-8


 Chapter 4

Defect Detection in Delaminated

Glass-Fibre/Epoxy Composite
Plates Using Local Defect
Resonance Based
Vibro-Thermography Technique
Subhankar Roy and Tanmoy Bose

Abstract

In the present scenario, composites are widely used for various applications in
the field of aerospace, automobile, marine, sports, construction and electrical
industries. The need of damage inspection for these composite structures has been
of great importance. Complicated defects like delaminations present in the com-
posite laminates can be detected effectively using nonlinear acoustic wave spec-
troscopy (NAWS). One of the NAWS techniques of detecting the delamination is
based on intensification of vibration amplitudes at the delamination location,
known as local defect resonance (LDR) technique. In this chapter, a numerical
investigation for detecting delamination in glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP)
composite based on vibrothermography technique will be discussed. A single peri-
odic LDR frequency excitation is used to excite the GFRP plate, resulting in a local
temperature rise at delamination region due to frictional heating at the damage
interface. An explicit dynamic temperature displacement analysis will be carried
out for a specific time period of LDR excitation. Subsequently, a heat transfer
analysis will be performed to observe the temperature difference at top surface of
the delaminated GFRP plate. Thus a numerical investigation will be carried out
based on LDR excitation for high contrast imaging of delamination in composite
materials using vibro-thermography.

Keywords: local defect resonance (LDR), delamination, vibro-thermography,

frictional heating, glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP)

1. Introduction

In recent times, composite materials finds a wide variety of applications in

several fields of engineering such as automobile, aerospace, building materials, etc.
because of their good strength to weight ratio, higher resistance to impact, better
fatigue property and lower costs. The composite materials are generally classified
into three vast categories according to their matrix material type, namely, polymer
matrix composites (PMCs), metal matrix composites (MMC) and ceramic matrix
composites (CMCs). The Glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fibre

1
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

reinforced polymer (CFRP) represents the largest class of polymer matrix compos-
ites (PMCs) which find numerous applications in the fabrication of aerospace
structures, turbine blades, automobile skin, etc. These structures are continuously
subjected to various cyclic loads and impacts during the tenure of their service and
hence may lead to development of damages in their sub-surface layers, in form of
delamination. So, this chapter will discuss a technique of determining the location
of such delaminations by performing vibro-thermography based on local defect
resonance of the defect. The vibro-thermography technique is an efficient tech-
nique for determining the location of damage in a complex structure by exciting the
structure at its defect frequency, known as the local defect resonance frequency.
Excitation at the defect frequency leads to high amplitude vibration at the defect
site resulting in clapping action of the layers, thus, generating a local heat at the
defect area. This temperature gradient in the defect area can be easily detected
using an IR-camera.
The vibro-thermography technique was implemented by many researchers in
the past for carrying out non-destructive evaluation of defects in structures. Vibro-
thermography was first introduced by for the detection of subsurface damages in
composite structures due to fatigue [1]. They studied the elastic and viscoelastic
hysteretic effects by mechanically exciting the specimen and obtaining the thermal
patterns. It was observed that the material deformation during the excitation was
directly related to the heat generated. The study was further implemented by using
resonant vibration to obtain high cyclic stresses [2]. In the year 1996, Rantala et al.
excited a sample with mechanical shaker and monitored the sample with an infrared
camera to perform a lock-in thermography technique [3]. The high amplitude of
vibration led to high temperature signatures at low stress levels which is very good
for non-destructive evaluation. Another study used lock-in thermography based on
optical heating of defect area for large area inspections [4]. Subsequently, a short
pulse sound was used in addition to IR imaging to measure surface temperature as a
function of time [5]. This led to efficient detection of subsurface cracks due to
enhancement of sonic infrared imaging. Vibro-thermography was found to be an
outstanding tool for fast detection of small defects like cracks and delaminations
[6]. It was observed that the defect can be detected from any side inspection and
not required for all-side inspection. Also, a single excitation location is sufficient to
perform a large area scanning and is found very useful for composites with multiple
materials having different thermal properties. The vibro-thermography technique
was also implemented for determining the size of a defect [7]. In this study, a
numerical model was developed using finite difference method where it was
observed that the size of defect influences phase angle data, thus affecting the
defect depth estimation. In the following year, the lock-in thermography technique
was used to differentiate between location, shape and size of defects in case of
cracks and corrosion defect [8]. Subsequently, the lock-in thermography was
implemented for detection of vertical cracks of arbitrary shape to determine geom-
etry and location of defect [9]. An algorithm is developed to obtain crack shape
reconstructions by optimizing the data before entering the algorithm. Deep cracks
are precisely detected although the shape of the crack is obtained as rounded and
having a slightly over-estimated area. Another group of researchers investigated
novel hybrid thermographic techniques in addition to traditional optically excited
thermography using external optical radiation such as heaters, flashes and laser
systems [10]. Different techniques such as ultrasonic stimulated thermography
with ultrasonic waves and damage resonance to enhance the sensitivity of micro-
cracks; microwave thermography that uses electromagnetic radiation at microwave
frequency bands; and eddy current stimulated thermography to generate induction
heating is used for detection of delaminations and cracks. Subsequently, an

2
Defect Detection in Delaminated Glass-Fibre/Epoxy Composite Plates Using Local Defect…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101178

integrated nonlinear ultrasound and Vibro-thermography based non-destructive

testing was proposed using shared excitation sources to solve low sensitivity and
small detection area problems in carbon fibre reinforced polymer structures [11].
The study involved time-domain analysis and fast Fourier transform of image
sequences obtained from specimens with different impact loads. In case of visible
damages, FFT did not improve the sound to noise ratio although the location and
shape of the defect were captured in detail. On the other hand, the barely visible
impact damages were only detected using nonlinear ultrasound and vibro-
thermography technique due to a better sound to noise ratio. Non-destructive
testing of CFRP with impact damages using ultrasonic simulation was further
implemented using two approaches: low power resonant ultrasonic stimulation
and high power stimulation at a fixed frequency [12]. The high power ultrasonic
IR thermography using magnetostriction and piezoelectric transmitters proved to
be highly informative but at the same time, ultrasonic IR testing needs a higher
level of energy consumption in order to induce temperature signatures of desired
amplitude. In contrast, low power ultrasonic stimulation using defect resonance
allows investigation of complex structured flaws like impact damages while
reducing the energy consumption to half when compared with high power
ultrasonic thermography. The study was extended by the same group where it is
shown that small deviations in the frequency of acoustic signal supplied to trans-
ducer from frequency of main resonance leads to a reduction in radiation
intensity and thus decreases in temperature at defect location [13]. Hence, the
transducer must operate at its resonant frequency for effective ultrasonic
stimulated thermography.
Furthermore, a modelling scheme was developed to simulate vibro-
thermography of structures used in gas turbine engine components in order to
reduce mass and enhanced cooling [14]. The framework of the model is comprised
of coupled thermoplastic heat generation and various effects due to nonlinear
vibration arising from excitation, engagement force on target structure by the
ultrasonic horn, and structural boundary conditions. It has been observed from
contact dynamic simulations that subharmonics, superharmonics, sub-
superharmonic and chaos are all present in the structure even if the exciter is
sharply tuned at the resonant frequency. This model is also used for obtaining
spatio-temporal temperature distribution in the target structure that can be
extended to understand vibro-thermographic characteristics in complex structures
with hidden defects. Subsequently, a significant increase in SNR combined with
suppression of effects due to non-uniform heating, background reflections and
surface non-uniformities can be achieved by a novel adaptive spectral band inte-
gration procedure for post-processing of flash thermography data [15]. This proce-
dure integrates spectral information of each individual pixel thus obtaining
maximum detectability of defects such as flat bottom holes, BVIDs as well as a
stiffened composite panel with production defects. The technique was also able to
estimate the accurate size and depth of the defects when compared with pulsed
phase thermography. Moreover, the same group of researchers compared the effi-
ciency of time and frequency domain analysis techniques in flash thermography to
improve the detectability of defects [16]. Single bin procedures such as thermal
signal area and dynamic thermal tomography; and integrated bin procedures such
as frequency domain tomography and adaptive spectral band integration are con-
sidered for the study. The single bin approach in the frequency domain showed
better detectability of defect and higher defect depth estimation as compared to its
time domain counterpart. Further, the integrated frequency domain approach
shows higher sensitivity to non-uniform heating and the best defect detectability
among all.

3
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Subsequently, nonlinear acoustic wave spectroscopy (NAWS) has recently

proved to be an efficient tool for detection of small defects in structures [17].
NAWS has an advantage over conventional non-destructive testing (NDT) tech-
niques where the information about reflection of incident vibration waves play a
major role in in detection of damages [18]. The interaction between defect and the
incident wave leads to generation of higher harmonics which can be better under-
stood using NAWS [19]. Local defect resonance (LDR) phenomenon is one of such
NAWS technique that is emerging in recent years. Since the scattering and reflec-
tion data of the incident signal in case of smaller defects is not so prominent, NAWS
and vibro-thermography technique are combined for detection of defects [20]. LDR
based vibro-thermography technique is much advantageous and less time consum-
ing than other NDT techniques for detection and location of small defects even in
intricate structures. Moreover, the LDR based frictional heating was introduced
which illustrated the rubbing and clapping action at defect site induces an internal
heating that can be detected easily using an IR camera [21]. It was observed that the
amplitude of vibration is quite high at the defect location when excited with its
fundamental defect frequency. Subsequently, an IR camera was used with cell
phone attachment for performing lock-in thermography [22]. With the help of
image processing, sub-surface defects and dental caries were successfully detected.
Also, a LDR based thermal imaging experiment was carried out to characterize
various defects using air-coupled ultrasound excitation [23]. Further, defects were
successfully activated using sweep excitation for low energy vibro-thermography
technique [24]. The post-processing included a Fourier-transform of the tempera-
ture response obtained from the defect in case of unknown LDR frequencies. The
LDR concept was also used in combination of IR imaging for detecting minute
defects using a nonlinear ultrasonic stimulated thermography (NUST) method [25].
It is found that by exciting the structure at a frequency yielding nonlinear response
may lead to increase in the temperature rise at defect area. The same research group
again used sweep excitation for activating the LDR frequency in order to obtain
higher heat generation at a crack surface [20].
The various literatures discussed on vibro-thermography and LDR based vibro-
thermography suggests that the technique is widely accepted for detection, location
and sizing of defects in composite structures. The advantage of such a technique is
mainly for detection of small and complicated defects such as delaminations and
barely visible impact damages (BVIDs) in composite structures. Hence, this chapter
will address the problem of defect detection in glass fibre reinforced polymer
(GFRP) composite by implementing LDR based vibro-thermography technique.

2. Theory

2.1 Local defect resonance (LDR)

The local defect resonance (LDR) is a phenomenon that occurs mainly due to
presence of a defect in any structure. Whenever, a structure consists of damage, the
local stiffness and mass of the structure at defect location changes. This change
leads to a new parameter known as the effective stiffness and effective mass of the
structure over the defect area. According to Solodov et al. [21], when the plate with
defect is excited with a frequency that matches with the frequency of the defect due
to its effective stiffness and effective mass, resonance occurs. This phenomenon of
resonance at the defect area is termed as local defect resonance. The LDR phenom-
enon leads to high amplitude of vibration at the defect location while the rest of the
plate remains at negligible amplitudes. Exciting a plate with one of its LDR

4
Defect Detection in Delaminated Glass-Fibre/Epoxy Composite Plates Using Local Defect…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101178

frequency will lead to clapping and rubbing action at the corresponding defect. This
clapping and rubbing action will further generate a local heat over the damage area.
The analytical relation for detection of LDR frequency is given by Solodov et al.
[21], in case of a flat bottom hole, which can be found analogous to a case of
delamination in composites.
Figure 1 shows a schematic of four layered composite with central delamination.
The analytical relation for calculating LDR frequency is based on parameters such as
diameter of delamination (a) and residual thickness (t). The effective stiffness (Ke)
of the structure at defect location is given by [26]

64πEt 3
Ke ¼ (1)
a2 ð1  ν2 Þ

Where E is modulus of elasticity and ν is Poisson’s ratio. Subsequently, the

effective mass of delamination is given as [26].

9
Me ¼ πρta2 (2)
20

Finally, the analytical expression for calculating the LDR frequency of any defect
in form of delamination is obtained by substituting Eqs. (1) and (2) in natural
frequency relation of the structure, and is expressed as [26]
s ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
6:4t E
f LDR ¼ 2 (3)
a 12ρ ð1  ν2 Þ

Where ρ is mass density of the material.

2.2 LDR based vibro-thermography

The excitation of a structure having delamination with the LDR frequency

corresponding to its damage leads to a rise in temperature at the defect location, as
discussed previously. The heat generated at the defect location due to clapping and
rubbing phenomena at the defect interface propagates away from the defect layer
towards the surface of the structure. These thermal signatures are captured by using
IR imaging and the technique is called as LDR based vibro-thermography. In this
chapter, the LDR based vibro-thermography will be discussed by carrying out a

Figure 1.
Schematic of a four layered composite structure with circular delamination at the central layer.

5
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

explicit coupled temperature-displacement analysis. The nonlinear wave propaga-

tion analysis is carried out on glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite in
order to obtain the thermal response of the structure at the defect interface. The
numerical model considered must fulfil the equilibrium condition in the deformed
structure to obtain the solution of forces and displacements at specific nodes. The
momentum equation based on principal of virtual displacement can be used for
translation and rotational motion of the body under harmonic loading, and is given
as [25].
ð ð ð ð
_ þ δv Bdξ  δv St dφ ¼ 0
δd σ dξ þ δv ρvdξ (4)
ξ ξ ξ φ

where ξ is current domain, φ is boundary of the body, δd is the virtual displace-

ment, σ is stress, δv is virtual velocity, B is the body force vector and St is the surface
traction. These terms represent the internal forces on the system, inertia force, body
force and surface traction in the system, respectively.
The Courant-Friedrichs-Levy condition is satisfied while carrying out the
explicit temperature-displacement analysis that requires integrating through small
time increments [27]. The central-difference and forward-difference are required to
be stable and hence a limit of time increment is chosen as

2 2
 
Δt ≤ min : , (5)
ωmax λ max

Where ωmax is highest natural frequency of the structure and λmax is largest
eigenvalue for the solution. The time increment, Δt must be calculated such that the
wavelength does not exceed more than a single element edge length. Therefore,
the size of element and time increment during the temperature-displacement anal-
ysis is a critical factor that needs to be taken care of. Otherwise, higher time
increment will lead to high amplitude oscillation of the time history variables and an
unstable solution.
During the coupled temperature-displacement analysis, internal stress and strain
are developed due to harmonic excitations from the incident wave which further
results in temperature rise at the defect location. The transient heat transfer occur-
ring at the defect surface is computed using the following equation [25].

∂T
ρCp ¼ ∇ϕ þ Hg (6)
∂t

Where Cp is specific heat capacity, T is time dependent temperature field, ϕ is

heat flux vector per unit volume and Hg is total internal heat generated per unit
volume. From the Fourier’s heat conduction law, the time dependent temperature
during each time step can be calculated which is discretised and expressed as [25].
  1 
Cn Cn
T nþ1 ¼ þ γn Fn þ T n (7)
Δt Δt

Where n is the analysis step (n = 1, 2, 3, … ), C is heat capacity matrix, γ is

conductivity matrix and F is thermal force vector. The temperature rise at the
defect location due to internal heat when the plate is excited at LDR frequency can
be evaluated using the above equation. Therefore, vibro-thermography can be
performed on a structure by incorporating LDR excitations that lead to higher
amplitude of vibration at defect area causing a temperature rise.

6
Defect Detection in Delaminated Glass-Fibre/Epoxy Composite Plates Using Local Defect…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101178

3. Numerical analysis

This section discusses the numerical simulation carried out for detection of sub-
surface delamination in a four layered GFRP plate with circular delamination at the
central layer. The numerical model of the delaminated GFRP plate was carried out
using ABAQUS 6.14 software. Each layer of the GFRP plate is considered to be of
0.5 mm thickness with the total thickness of plate as 2 mm. The area of the plate
considered for numerical simulation is 180  180 mm 2 with a delamination between
second and third layer. Thus, the residual thickness of the damage required for
calculation of analytical LDR frequency is 1 mm. The diameter of the circular
delamination is taken as 12 mm while the location of the delamination is at
x = 120 mm and y = 60 mm, taking left bottom corner of the plate as the origin.
Figure 2 shows the schematic of the delaminated plate with circular delamination.
The material properties of GFRP plate used for carrying out the explicit
temperature displacement analysis are given in Table 1. The rule of mixtures
was implemented for calculating the material properties of GFRP specimen from
the individual property of glass fibre and epoxy [29]. The simulation is carried
out by providing sliding contact interaction properties at the defect interface.
Moreover, the friction properties are included on the delamination area while the
rest of the plate area is provided with tie constraints for all layers. The initial

Figure 2.
Schematic of GFRP plate with circular delamination at the central layer.

Material Density Young’s Modulus Poisson’s ratio Specific heat Thermal

(in kg/m 3) (in GPa) (J/kg K) conductivity
(W/m K)

Epoxy 1200 3.30 0.35 1100.0 0.17

E-glass fibre 2540 28.0 0.22 800.81 1.35

GFRP plate 2145 10.7 0.30 908.25 0.94

Table 1.
Material properties for GFRP plate [28].

7
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

ambient temperature was considered as 293 K for all nodes of the plate. The
number of elements considered for carrying out the present numerical investigation
is 42,269 10-noded tetrahedral elements. First, the analytical LDR frequency of the
delamination is calculated from the relation presented in previous section,
followed by the steady state dynamic analysis to confirm the LDR frequency. The
steady state analysis is performed on a frequency limit such that the analytical
LDR calculated falls within the range of the analysis. The mode shape obtained
from the contour plot of steady state analysis confirms the exact LDR frequency
required for performing explicit temperature-displacement analysis.
Subsequently, the explicit coupled temperature-displacement analysis is carried
out followed by heat transfer analysis to detect the defect using LDR based
vibro-thermography.
The explicit coupled temperature-displacement analysis is performed on the
GFRP plate using single periodic LDR excitation confirmed from the steady state
analysis. The force amplitude for carrying out the analysis is taken as 50 N in the
thickness direction. The excitation time of 10 ms is used for vibrating the plate at its
LDR frequency with a fixed time increment of 5  108 s. The time increment is
calculated according to the CFL condition for explicit analysis [27]. The 10-noded
modified thermally coupled second order tetrahedron (C3D10MT) mesh elements
are used for the analysis. Subsequently, a node on the top surface of the plate
positioned at centre of the damage area is selected to determine the amplitude of
vibration during excitation. In the analysis history output, nodes at delamination
layer are selected for plotting temperature profiles. The temperature gradient
obtained at the end of explicit coupled temperature-displacement analysis is further
used as predefined field for a heat transfer analysis. Finally, a 10 ms heat transfer
analysis is performed with 10-noded quadratic heat transfer tetrahedron (DC3D10)
mesh type for this step. The transient response of the heat transfer step is captured
at the delamination layer as well as the top surface of the plate.

4. Results and discussions

This section discusses the results obtained from explicit coupled temperature-
displacement analysis followed by heat transfer analysis in case of LDR frequency
excitation based vibro-thermography. First, a steady state analysis of the GFRP
plate is performed with a frequency range around the analytical LDR frequency
calculated using Eq. (3). The mode shape confirming the LDR frequency of the
delamination is found to be 24.8 kHz from the steady state analysis, as shown in
Figure 3. The LDR frequency excitation in form of single periodic continuous
excitation is applied on the transmitter nodes of the numerical model from the top
surface.
On performing the explicit coupled temperature-displacement analysis, the
amplitude-frequency spectra obtained from a node selected on the top surface of
the plate above the delamination location is presented in Figure 4. The highest peak
in the frequency spectra is obtained at 24.86 kHz which is close to the result
obtained from steady state analysis. The highest amplitude of 6.488  106 m was
observed at the delamination area.
Subsequently, the average nodal temperature profile at the delamination
location during the span of explicit dynamic coupled temperature-displacement
analysis is plotted in Figure 5. The plot shows variation of temperature at the
delamination interface with respect to time of excitation. It is observed that the
average nodal temperature at delamination location starts rising after 4 ms of
excitation. The nodal temperature at delamination region rises gradually to around

8
Defect Detection in Delaminated Glass-Fibre/Epoxy Composite Plates Using Local Defect…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101178

Figure 3.
Contour plot of the GFRP plate depicting the mode shape of the delamination at LDR frequency of 24.8 kHz.

Figure 4.
Frequency spectra obtained at the delamination location on the top surface of the plate for single periodic LDR
excitation.

293.015 K in 10 ms. Since, the temperature rise is not saturated at the end of
excitation, the plate can be excited for more time until the temperature rise
saturates.
Moreover, all the elements over the delamination area is selected to plot the
elemental temperature rise over delamination during 10 ms of heat transfer analy-
sis, as illustrated in Figure 6. The plot shows a rise of temperature from the ambient
for some of the elements over the delamination area. It is observed that the maxi-
mum temperature recorded during heat transfer analysis is 293.15 K. Since the
temperature rise over the delamination region is around 150 mK, the vibro-
thermography scanning can be done at this instance of time with any IR camera that
normally has a resolution of 30 mK.
Furthermore, contour plot for nodal temperature on the delamination surface
of GFRP plate after explicit temperature-displacement analysis is illustrated in
Figure 7. It is clear from the contour plot that the temperature rise is observed only

9
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 5.
Average nodal temperature rise at delamination layer for single periodic continuous LDR excitation.

Figure 6.
Elemental temperature rise at delamination layer for single periodic continuous LDR excitation.

at the delamination location while the rest of the plate shows no thermal signatures
at all. However, it is clear that the whole delamination area is not covered by the
heat flow at this time instance. Hence, the excitation of the plate must be done for
more time period such that the whole delamination area is covered by the heat
distribution. Similarly, the elemental temperature is shown in contour plot depicted
in Figure 8, where heat is distributed to a larger area after heat transfer analysis as
compared to the explicit temperature-displacement analysis. Although, the whole
delamination is not covered at this instance and more time for excitation is
required. The defect imaging at later time increment is advantageous because of
better judgement and idea of defect shape and size is detected easily. This is one of
the merits of performing LDR based vibro-thermography technique that provides
high contrast defect images that can be captured using an IR camera.

10
Defect Detection in Delaminated Glass-Fibre/Epoxy Composite Plates Using Local Defect…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101178

Figure 7.
Contour plot of nodal temperature on the delamination surface of delaminated GFRP plate after heat transfer
analysis.

Figure 8.
Contour plot of nodal temperature on the top surface of delaminated GFRP plate at 10 ms during single
periodic continuous LDR excitations.

5. Conclusions

In this chapter, a LDR frequency excitation based vibro-thermography tech-

nique is implemented for detection of a circular delamination in a four layered
GFRP plate. The analytical LDR frequency is calculated using the expression
discussed in the theory section. The analytical LDR frequency is then confirmed by
carrying out a steady state dynamic analysis. The mode shape obtained from the
contour plot of the steady state analysis confirms the LDR frequency of the
delamination which is further used for carrying out the explicit dynamic coupled
temperature-displacement analysis. Subsequently, the amplitude-frequency spectra
during the temperature-displacement analysis is plotted to observe a rise in tem-
perature at the defect location due to clapping and rubbing action during resonance.
The average nodal at delamination layer is presented to find the maximum temper-
ature rise at delamination region when the plate is excited with LDR frequency.
Moreover, a 10 ms heat transfer analysis is carried out to obtain high contrast
temperature response on top surface of the GFRP plate. Finally, the temperature
profile is plotted for all elements over the delamination layer after heat transfer

11
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

analysis. The temperature profile plotted at the defect interface signifies that the
temperature rises drastically when the structure is excited with LDR frequency and
subsequently, enhances the chance of defect detection using vibro-thermography
technique. The vibro-thermographic imaging using an IR camera is recommended
after longer period of LDR excitation. Thus, the LDR based vibro-thermography is
found to be an efficient tool for detection, location and size estimation of defects in
composite structures.

12
Defect Detection in Delaminated Glass-Fibre/Epoxy Composite Plates Using Local Defect…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101178

References

[1] Henneke EG, Reifsnider KL, [9] Castelo A, Mendioroz A, Celorrio R,

Stinchcomb WW. Thermography—An Salazar A. Optimizing the inversion
NDI method for damage detection. The protocol to determine the geometry of
Journal of the Minerals, Metals & vertical cracks from lock-in
Materials Society. 1979;31(9):11-15 vibrothermography. Journal of
Nondestructive Evaluation. 2017;
[2] Pye CJ, Adams RD. Detection of 36(1):3
damage in fibre reinforced plastics using
thermal fields generated during [10] Ciampa F, Mahmoodi P, Pinto F,
resonant vibration. NDT International. Meo M. Recent advances in active
1981;14(3):111-118 infrared thermography for non-
destructive testing of aerospace
[3] Rantala J, Wu D, Busse G. components. Sensors. 2018;18(2):609
Amplitude-modulated lock-in
vibrothermography for NDE of [11] He Y, Chen S, Zhou D, Huang S,
polymers and composites. Research in Wang P. Shared excitation based
Nondestructive Evaluation. 1996;7: nonlinear ultrasound and
215-228 vibrothermography testing for CFRP
barely visible impact damage
[4] Wu D, Busse G. Lock-in inspection. IEEE Transactions on
thermography for nondestructive Industrial Informatics. 2018;14(12):
evaluation of materials. Revue Générale 5575-5584
de Thermique. 1998;37(8):693-703
[12] Derusova DA, Vavilov VP, Guo X,
[5] Han X, Zeng Z, Li W, Islam Md S, Druzhinin NV. Comparing the
Lu J, Loggins V, et al. Acoustic chaos for efficiency of ultrasonic infrared
enhanced detectability of cracks by thermography under high-power and
sonic infrared imaging. Journal of resonant stimulation of impact damage
Applied Physics. 2004;95(7):3792-3797 in a CFRP composite. Russian Journal of
Nondestructive Testing. 2018;54(5):
[6] Renshaw J, Holland SD, 356-362
Thompson RB. Measurement of crack
opening stresses and crack closure stress [13] Derusova DA, Vavilov VP, Guo X,
profiles from heat generation in Shpil’noi VY, Danilin NS. Infrared
vibrating cracks. Applied Physics thermographic testing of hybrid
Letters. 2008;93(8):081914 materials using high-power ultrasonic
stimulation. Russian Journal of
[7] Junyan L, Qingju T, Yang W. The Nondestructive Testing. 2018;54(10):
study of inspection on SiC coated 733-739
carbon–carbon composite with
subsurface defects by lock-in [14] Geetha GK, Mahapatra DR.
thermography. Composites Science Modeling and simulation of vibro-
and Technology. 2012;72(11): thermography including nonlinear
1240-1250 contact dynamics of ultrasonic actuator.
Ultrasonics. 2019;93:81-92
[8] Mendioroz A, Castelo A, Celorrio R,
Salazar A. Characterization of vertical [15] Poelman G, Hedayatrasa S, Segers J,
buried defects using lock-in Van Paepegem W, Kersemans M.
vibrothermography: I. Direct problem. Adaptive spectral band integration in
Measurement Science and Technology. flash thermography: Enhanced defect
2013;24(6):065601 detectability and quantification in

13
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

composites. Composites Part B: [24] Rahammer M, Kreutzbruck M.

Engineering. 2020;202:108305 Fourier-transform vibrothermography
with frequency sweep excitation
[16] Poelman G, Hedayatrasa S, Segers J, utilizing local defect resonances. NDT &
Van Paepegem W, Kersemans M. An E International. 2017;86:83-88
experimental study on the defect
detectability of time- and frequency- [25] Fierro GPM, Calla D, Ginzburg D,
domain analyses for flash Ciampa F, Meo M. Nonlinear ultrasonic
thermography. Applied Sciences. 2020; stimulated thermography for damage
10(22):8051 assessment in isotropic fatigued
structures. Journal of Sound and
[17] Solodov I, Bai J, Busse G. Resonant Vibration. 2017;404:102-115
ultrasound spectroscopy of defects: Case
study of flat-bottomed holes. Journal of [26] Solodo I, Rahammer M, Gulnizkij N,
Applied Physics. 2013;113(22):223512 Kreutzbruck M. Noncontact sonic NDE
and defect imaging via local defect
[18] Lima WJND, Hamilton MF. Finite- resonance. Journal of Nondestructive
amplitude waves in isotropic elastic Evaluation. 2016;35(3):48
plates. Journal of Sound and Vibration.
2003;265:819-839 [27] Courant R, Friedrichs K, Lewy H.
On the partial difference equations of
[19] Ciampa F, Pickering SG, Scarselli G, mathematical physics. IBM Journal of
Meo M. Nonlinear imaging of damage in Research and Development. 1967;11(2):
composite structures using sparse 215-234
ultrasonic sensor arrays: Nonlinear
imaging of damage. Structural Control [28] AZo Materials—Online Publication
and Health Monitoring. 2017;24(5): for Materials Science Community
e1911 [Internet]. Available from: https://www.
azom.com/properties.aspx?ArticleID=
[20] Fierro GPM, Ginzburg D, Ciampa F, 764 [Accessed: 11 October 2021]
Meo M. Imaging of barely visible impact
damage on a complex composite [29] Liu GR. A step-by-step method of
stiffened panel using a nonlinear rule-of-mixture of fiber- and particle-
ultrasound stimulated thermography reinforced composite materials.
approach. Journal of Nondestructive Composite Structures. 1998;40(3–4):
Evaluation. 2017;36(4):69 313-322

[21] Solodov I, Bai J, Bekgulyan S,

Busse G. A local defect resonance to
enhance acoustic wave-defect
interaction in ultrasonic nondestructive
evaluation. Applied Physics Letters.
2011;99(21):211911

[22] Razani M, Parkhimchyk A,

Tabatabaei N. Lock-in thermography
using a cell phone attachment infrared
camera. AIP Advances. 2018;8:035305

[23] Solodov I, Derusova D,

Rahammer M. Thermosonic Chladni
figures for defect-selective imaging.
Ultrasonics. 2015;60:1-5

14
 Chapter 5

Periodic Acoustic Black Holes to

Mitigate Sound Radiation from
Cylindrical Structures
Jie Deng and Nansha Gao

Abstract

Acoustic black holes (ABHs) achieved by progressively diminishing structural

thickness have been proved a very efficient approach for wideband vibration
reduction, sound suppression, energy harvesting, and wave manipulation. In this
chapter, the focus is placed on mitigating the sound emitted from cylindrical shells
with embedded ABHs. In the applications of aeronautics, astronautics, and under-
water vehicles, cylindrical shells are very common yet the vibroacoustic problems in
such structures are very challenging. Even the researches on ABHs for straight
beams and flat plates are boosting in recent years, the ABH effect is unclear for
curved structures thus it deserves further investigations to push forward their
applications. Since cylindrical shells are usually long in, for example, airplanes and
rockets, periodic ABHs are designed to alleviate the acoustic emission from them.
The Gaussian expansion method (GEM) is employed to recover the vibration field
on the cylinder and, based on that, the sound radiation model is developed to
determine the emitted sound power level (SWL). The band gaps (BGs) are shown
for infinite periodic ABH shells, followed by the vibroacoustic level for a finite
periodic shell. Particularly, axial stiffeners are introduced and the influences of their
quantity and width are carried out.

Keywords: acoustic black holes, acoustic radiation, cylindrical shells, band gaps,
stiffeners

1. Introduction

An acoustic black hole (ABH) is usually realized by reducing structural thickness

following a power law hðxÞ ¼ εx m ðm ≥ 2Þ, as illustrated in Figure 1. When an
incident flexural wave impinges at the edge of the ABH, its wavelength and wave
speed get gradually decreased. Meanwhile, the wavenumber is however increased
and the amplitude is intensified. In the ideal case, the thickness at the ABH tip
decays to zero, where the wave velocity vanishes as well, such that the traveling
time to its center becomes infinite. In other words, the wave will never reach the
tip. In analogy with cosmology, the termination behaves like a “Black Hole” in
which nothing can escape from it. This is the story of how the term “Acoustic Black
Hole” was coined [1]. Howbeit, in real applications, generally, an ABH is imperfect.
Namely, there exists a truncation near the ABH tip, which results in obvious reflec-
tion because of the residual thickness [2]. Fortunately, attaching a thin viscoelastic

1
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 1.
Illustration of ABH effect: the incident wave is localized in the ABH tip as it propagates toward the ABH.

layer at the ABH tip, where the energy is highly concentrated, can alleviate this
problem [3]. Recently, constrained viscoelastic layers have been suggested to
enhance the damping effects, by changing the normal tensile and compressive
deformation of damping material into the shear one [4].
It has been shown that the ABHs are very efficient to reduce vibration from
straight beams [5, 6] and flat plates [7, 8]. The shapes and lengths of the damping
layers have been extensively investigated [4, 9]. Also, different ABH designs have
been proposed for the purpose of enhancing energy consumption [7, 10–12].
Thanks to the vibration reduction because of highly efficient damping, the sound
radiation from ABH structures is accordingly reduced [13]. Not only that, recent
studies have shown that the ABHs can also impair the sound radiation efficiency
because of the thickness reduction [14, 15]. Particularly, for cavity noise, the ABH
profile can destroy the coupling strength between structural and acoustic modes,
which is the third underlying mechanism of the ABHs for reducing room noise
[16, 17]. Furthermore, periodic and gradient-index ABHs are investigated for
steering waves [18–20]. It is also worthwhile mentioning that ABHs can also
enhance energy harvesting due to wave focalization [21], using piezoelectric layers
rather than viscoelastic ones.
The state-of-the-art reviewed above are mainly centered on flat structures.
However, in aeronautics, astronautics, and underwater vehicles, cylindrical shells
are very common. There, the vibroacoustic problems are very critical to determine
their comfortability and safety, thus it is very demanding to apply ABH features on
them. Our previous efforts have been focused on the vibration of cylindrical beams
[22] and shells [23, 24], together with the sound radiation from a finite cylinder
[25]. In this chapter, we continue this topic but analyze the sound radiation from
periodic ABH shells.
As shown in Figure 2a, an infinite periodic ABH shell is considered, with each
unit cell having radius R and length Lcell. An ABH plus a thin viscoelastic layer (see
the green layer) is laid in the center of the cell. The geometries of the ABH and the
damping layer are detailed in Figure 2b. Here, the profile of the ABH is defined by
hðxÞ ¼ εjxjm þ hc, where ε ¼ ðhuni  hc Þr mabh stands for the ABH slope and, rabh , hc ,
and m respectively are the ABH radius, residual thickness, and order. We will
characterize the band gaps (BGs) for infinite periodic ABH shells and their depen-
dence on the ABH geometry. Next, a finite periodic ABH shell containing five cells
will be characterized, under a ring excitation acting at x f (see Figure 2c). The
translational springs ki , i ¼ 1, 2 and rotational ones pi , i ¼ 1, 2 are intended for
boundary conditions (distributed circumferentially). As one could expect, the
appearance of ABHs weakens the stiffness of the whole structure. This may deteri-
orate the structural problems. To partially solve this, we can introduce N stiffeners
for each cell (see Figure 2d), with each width being W . The effects of the stiffeners
will also be investigated at the end of this chapter.

2
Periodic Acoustic Black Holes to Mitigate Sound Radiation from Cylindrical Structures
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101959

Figure 2.
Illustration of the periodic ABH cylindrical shell. (a) A unit ABH cell having a thin damping layer (green). (b)
The geometrical detail of the ABH profile. (c) A supported finite ABH cell having five cells under a ring
excitation. (d) Illustration of the stiffener for enhancing the structure (with N stiffeners in the circumferential
direction).

2. Vibration characteristics of infinite periodic ABH shells

2.1 Gaussian expansion for the vibration of infinite periodic ABH shells

The goal of this section is that of developing a semi-analytical model for charac-
terizing the vibration of the infinite periodic ABH shell. Let us consider three vari-
ables, u, v, and w, which are the displacements in the axial, circumferential, and
radial directions, respectively. They can be decomposed by
X
uðx, y, tÞ ¼ a i ðtÞψ i ðx, yÞ ¼ a⊤ ψ ¼ ψ ⊤ a, (1)
i
X
vðx, y, tÞ ¼ b i ðtÞξi ðx, yÞ ¼ b⊤ ξ ¼ ξ⊤b, (2)
i
X
wðx, y, tÞ ¼ ci ðtÞφi ðx, yÞ ¼ c⊤ φ ¼ φ ⊤ c, (3)
i

where

^ exp ðjωtÞ, b ¼ B
a¼A ^ exp ðjωtÞ, c ¼ C
^ exp ðjωtÞ, (4)

are the coefficient vectors to be determined, while ψ , ξ, and φ are the shape
function vectors with entries ψ iðx, yÞ, ξi ðx, yÞ, and φi ðx, yÞ, respectively. With the
aid of Kronecker product, the vectors ψ , ξ, and φ can be factorized as

3
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

ψ ðx, yÞ ¼ α ψ ðxÞ ⊗ βψ ðyÞ, (5)

ξðx, yÞ ¼ αξ ðxÞ ⊗ βξ ðyÞ, (6)
φ φ
φðx, yÞ ¼ α ðxÞ ⊗ β ðyÞ, (7)

where αðiÞ ði ¼ ψ , ξ, φÞ are column vectors containing basis functions depending

on the x direction yet βðiÞ ði ¼ ψ , ξ, φÞ the ones on the y direction. To accurately
capture the localized displacements in the ABH portion, the entries of α and β are
selected as Gaussian functions
h  2 i
αi ðxÞ ¼ 2 sx=2 exp  2sx x  qxi =2 , (8)
  2 
βi ðyÞ ¼ 2s y=2 exp  2sy y  qyi =2 , (9)

in which s x and sy are the scaling parameters, while qx and q y are the translational
parameters, in the x and y directions, respectively. For brevity, readers are referred
to our previous works [4, 26] to thoroughly comprehend the detailed process of
how to produce acceptable basis.
Unlike finite and flat plates, bear in mind that the displacements, on the one
hand, must be continuous in the circumferential direction (0 and 1 are enough,
see [22]), which requires

 0 : uðx, πRÞ ¼ uðx, πRÞ, vðx, πRÞ ¼ vðx, πRÞ, wðx, πRÞ ¼ wðx, πRÞ, (10)
∂u ∂u ∂v ∂v ∂w ∂w
1 : ðx, πRÞ ¼ ðx, πRÞ, ðx, πRÞ ¼ ðx, πRÞ, ðx, πRÞ ¼ ðx, πRÞ:
∂y ∂y ∂y ∂y ∂y ∂y
(11)

On the other hand, Bloch-Floquet periodic boundary conditions must be

imposed in the axial direction for a unit cell ( 0 and  1 , too), namely

0 : uð0, yÞ ¼ uð Lcell, yÞλ, vð0, yÞ ¼ vðLcell , yÞλ, wð0, yÞ ¼ w ðL cell, yÞλ, (12)
∂u ∂u ∂v ∂v ∂w ∂w
1 : ð0, yÞ ¼ ðLcell , yÞλ, ð0, yÞ ¼ ð Lcell , yÞλ, ð0, yÞ ¼ ð L , yÞλ,
∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x cell
(13)

where λ ¼ exp ðjkxL cell Þ, kx is the axial wavenumber in the irreducible Bernouin
zone [18]. Via implementing the reconstruction process in [18], the continuity in
the circumferential direction (Eqs. (10) and (11)) and the periodicity in the axial
one (Eqs. (12) and (13)) can be satisfied.
Provided the kinetic energy, K, and the potential one, U , are presented in terms
of u, v, and w [27], the Lagrangian of the whole system can be built

1 1
L ¼ K  U ¼ q_ ⊤ Mq_  q⊤ Kq, (14)
2 2
where
h ⊤ ⊤ ⊤i ⊤
^ ,^
q¼ A ^
B ,C ^ exp ðjωtÞ,
exp ðjωtÞ  Q (15)

represents the assembled undetermined time-dependent vector related to

admissible shape functions. M represents the mass matrix and K the stiffness one.

4
Periodic Acoustic Black Holes to Mitigate Sound Radiation from Cylindrical Structures
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101959
 
Finally, applying the Euler–Lagrange equations ∂t ∂q_ L  ∂qL ¼ 0 to Eq. (14) yields
the equations of motion in the frequency domain,

ω 2 M þ K Q^ ¼ 0,
 
(16)

whose solution permits calculating the dispersion curves and eigenmodes for
infinite periodic ABH shells.

2.2 Numerical results

2.2.1 Dispersion curves and band gaps

The dispersion curves of an ABH cell, whose geometry and material are detailed
in Table 1, have been carried out and plotted in Figure 3a. For the purpose of
validation, the result from a reference FEM model has also been included in
Figure 3a. From the figure, it is seen that the two results are very close at each

Geometry parameters Material parameters

m ¼ 2:8 ρ ¼ 7800 kg=m3

Lcell ¼ 1 m E ¼ 210 GPa

R¼5m η ¼ 0:005
h uni ¼ 0:03 m ν ¼ 0:3
rabh ¼ 0:25 m

ε ¼ 1: 3581 m1:8 ρv ¼ 950 kg =m 3

h c ¼ 0:002 m Ev ¼ 5 GPa

rv ¼ 0:125 m ηv ¼ 0:5

h v ¼ 0:008 m ν v ¼ 0:3
ρ, shell density; ρv , damping layer density; E, shell young modulus; Ev , damping layer young modulus; η, shell loss
factor; ηv , damping layer loss factor; ν, shell Poisson ratio; νv , damping layer Poisson ratio.

Table 1.
Geometry and material parameters of the ABH cylindrical shell.

Figure 3.
(a) Dispersion curves together with band gaps calculated with GEM and FEM. (b) Transmission from the left
end to the right for a finite shell having five cells with and without damping layers, carried out with the GEM.

5
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

wavenumber, indicating the correctness of the present GEM model. Most impor-
tantly, four-band gaps (BGs) are observed within 1000 Hz, in which the first one is
very small. Using the GEM without axial periodic boundary conditions for a finite
shell having five cells, we can compute the transmission from one end to the other.
As shown in Figure 3b, the transmission is very low at BG frequencies. For the shell
without damping layers (undamped), the transmission is strong in the passbands.
However, this situation can be ameliorated after implementing the damping layers,
with a maximum reduction of up to 25 dB.
To reveal the mechanism of the BGs, we have computed the first six eigenmodes
of the unit cell, at wavenumber kx ¼ 0 for λ. As illustrated in Figure 4, for most
orders, the vibration is very strong in the ABH area. While this is not the case for
the 1-st order (see Figure 4a). This is because of the ring frequency (173 Hz), below
which the cylindrical shell is almost not vibrating in the radial direction. However,
for the 2-nd to 6-th orders (see Figure 4b–f), the wave is gradually concentrating
in the ABH portion, belonging to the locally resonant effect. That is, the BGs
shown in Figure 3 are locally resonant ones, similar to the periodic ABH beams
reported in [28].

2.2.2 Parametric analysis: effects of the ABH order, central thickness, and radius

The ABH profile is generally controlled by three parameters, m, h c, and rabh ,

which represent the ABH order, central thickness, and radius, respectively. It is
worthwhile testing how these parameters affect the BGs.
Let us first look at the influence of the ABH order. As shown in Figure 5a, the
2-nd BG starts to gradually decrease as m increases. The 3-rd BG is however
distinctive because the BG inverses near m ¼ 3, then the upper bound almost keeps
still but its lower bound drops. For the 4-th one, the width of the BG first becomes
larger then turns out smaller as m goes up. In general, the total width of the four
BGs almost remains the same, but they will be more compact and converge to lower
frequencies. Note that we have also included the changes of the BGs for the ABH
shell with a damping layer (damped). It is seen that the phenomenon is close to the

Figure 4.
The first 6 eigenmodes for infinite periodic cells at wavenumber kx ¼ 0. The shaded area stands for the ABH
portion. (a)-(f) respectively correspond to the 1-st to the 6-th orders.

6
Periodic Acoustic Black Holes to Mitigate Sound Radiation from Cylindrical Structures
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101959

Figure 5.
Band gaps changing with (a) the ABH order, (b) the central thickness, and (c) the ABH radius.

former case. Due to the added stiffness of the layer, the BGs however occur at
higher frequencies.
Different from the ABH order, the BGs are very sensitive to the central thick-
ness. As graphed in Figure 5b, generally, the BGs become very narrow as the central
thickness increases from 0þ to huni ¼ 0:03 m. It seems that the central thickness of
the ABH needs to be small enough for wide BGs, whose local resonance is more
significant. Howbeit, it is not realistic because truncation always exists. Moreover,
we observe that for the 4-th BG there is an inflection point near hc ¼ 0:002 m,
indicating that the optimal thickness can be found in this range. For comparison,
the effects of the damping layer are also characterized in Figure 5b, but it seems not
important to the BGs. However, for very small rabh the added mass of the damping
layer is more dominant than its added stiffness. This is why the BGs for the damped
shell are lower than those for the undamped shell.
Finally, the effects of the ABH radius are computed and illustrated in Figure 5c.
We consider the ABH radius varying from 0 to Lcell =2 ¼ 0:5 m. From the figure, we
can see that the BGs move to low-frequency range very fast as rabh grows. Particu-
larly, the BGs are prone to inverse when the radius is not very large (rabh < 0:4 m).
The 2-nd BG inverses at rabh ¼ 0:14 m, while the 3-rd BG has double inversions
respectively at rabh ¼ 0:1 m and r abh ¼ 0:32 m, whereas the 4-th BG contains at least
two inversions at rabh ¼ 0:22 m and r abh ¼ 0:37 m. When r abh > 0:4 m, the BGs
become stable and progressively move to lower frequencies. Again, the influence of
the damping layer is also characterized in Figure 5c. On the one hand, it is inspected
that the damping layer has significance merely for a large ABH radius. On the other,
the BGs locate at higher frequencies because of added stiffness, as reported in
Figure 5a.

7
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

3. Sound radiation from finite periodic ABH shells

3.1 Radiation theory for cylindrical shells

Once the radial displacement w ðx0 , θ 0 Þ (here θ0 ¼ y 0=R) is obtained, the normal
velocity to the surface can be further expressed as vwð x0, θ 0Þ ¼ jωwðx0 , θ0Þ. For a
baffled cylindrical shell, the radiated sound pressure of an arbitrary external point
ðr, θ, xÞ can be analytically obtained by [29, 30].
ð π ða þ∞
jρ ω X
pðx, θ, rÞ ¼ a 2 vw ðx0 , θ0 Þ cos ½ nð θ  θ0 Þ
4π π a n¼∞
(17)
exp ½ jkxðx  x0 Þ H nð1Þ ky r
ð þ∞  
0 0
0   dk x dx Rdθ ,
∞ kyR H ð1Þ ky R
n

 2 2 0:5
where ρa represents the density of air, kx and ky ¼ k  k x symbolize the
wavenumber components in the x and the y direction, respectively, and k stands for
the total sound wavenumber. Here θ ¼ y=R stands for the circumferential angle.
Hnð1Þ indicates the n-th Hankel function of the first kind, and H nð1Þ0 denotes its first
derivative with respect to the argument ky R.
For numerical estimation, the cylindrical shell can be segmented into N elemen-
tary radiators, with each surface area ΔS. The surface velocity can be assembled as a
vector vw , which can be further used to calculate the sound pressure vector on the
cylindrical surface

pN1 ¼ Z NN v N1, (18)

where Z represents the acoustic impedance matrix, with entries

þ∞
 þ∞ cos k x xi  x j Hnð1Þ ky r
    
jρaωΔS X
ð
 
Zij ¼ εn cos n θ i  θ j 0  dkx , (19)
2π 2 n¼0 0 ky a Hðn1Þ kyR

here εn is a normalized coefficient, and it is given by

1, n ¼ 0,

εn ¼ (20)
2, n > 0:

Next, we can write the sound power as

W s ¼ v H Rv, (21)
 
where the superscript H stands for the Hermite transpose and R ¼ ΔS 2 Re Zjr¼R
is the radiation resistance matrix (real symmetric and positive-definite). The sound
radiation efficiency can be further obtained by

Ws
σ¼   , (22)
ρ a ca NΔS v2w overall

where v2w overall represents the mean square velocity (MSV) over the whole
surface of theABH cylindrical shell.

8
Periodic Acoustic Black Holes to Mitigate Sound Radiation from Cylindrical Structures
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101959

3.2 Sound radiation from unstiffened ABH shells

Now we investigate the sound radiation from a finite unstiffened shell

containing five ABH cells. Based on the reconstructed GEM presented in
Section 2.1, we cancel the axial periodic conditions, namely Eqs. (12) and (13), such
that the vibration field of the finite ABH shell can be characterized. It is well-known
that there is a cut-on frequency for an ABH, which is mainly determined by its size.
Only beyond this frequency (wavelength smaller than the ABH size, 2rabh ), the
wave can be trapped and the ABH effect can be triggered. According to Table 1, the
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
radius cut-on frequency f r ¼ πh 2
4r
uni E
3ρ ð1ν 2 Þ ¼ 282 Hz.
abh
As plotted in Figure 6a, the radial mean square velocity (MSV) on the surface of
the ABH shell is compared to that of the uniform (UNI) shell having the same
damping layer configuration. From the figure, it can be seen that in the BGs, the
vibration of the ABH shell is very low. In the passbands, the vibration beyond
f r ¼ 282 Hz is stronger but never exceeds the MSV of the reference shell. Particu-
larly, the average reduction reaches ΔMSV ¼ 10 dB. Looking at Figure 6b, the sound
power level (SWL) is also very small in the BGs. Even for the passbands, the SWL is
effectively suppressed, with an average reduction approaching ΔSWL ¼ 15 dB.
Then, we examine the radiation efficiency of the ABH shell. As shown in Figure 6c,
the radiation efficiency of the uniform shell grows to the maxima in the vicinity of
the critical frequency f c ¼ 390 Hz. After embedding the ABHs, however, the
radiation efficiency is significantly impaired, almost in the whole frequency band of

Figure 6.
Comparison of the (a) mean square velocity (MSV), (b) sound power level (SWL), and (c) radiation
efficiency, between the ABH and uniform shells. The shaded areas stand for the BGs.

9
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

interest. Careful readers may notice that the radiation efficiency is very small in
the 2-nd BG (the 1-st BG is not shown here because it is too narrow), but
in the latter BGs, it becomes larger. This is due to the weakening of the local
resonance effect at higher frequencies where the uniform portions start to activate
(see Figure 4).
To clearly manifest the characteristics of the ABH shell, we have further calcu-
lated the vibration field at each frequency. As illustrated in Figure 7, compared to
the uniform shell whose distribution of vibration nodes is very regular to location
and frequency (over the ring frequency 173 Hz), the vibration in the BGs is obvi-
ously isolated as propagating in the axial direction. For frequencies outside of the
BGs, the amplitude of the displacement is also clearly reduced to the right direction.
Specifically, we choose 287 Hz and 340 Hz as two representative frequencies in the
BG and the passband, respectively, for demonstrating the effectiveness of the ABH
shell. In Figure 8a, it is clearly seen that the local resonance effect in the ABHs is
very strong, such that vibration can be substantially stopped when compared to the
uniform shell. While in Figure 8b we can see that the wave can be transmitted to
the whole shell, but the amplitude is very small because of the highly efficient
damping effect by the ABH + damping layer configuration.

Figure 7.
Displacements (wref ¼ 1 m) of (a) the ABH shell and (b) the uniform shell, changing with frequency.

Figure 8.
Forced vibration shapes for the finite shell having five cells at (a) 258 Hz (at the center of the second bandgap),
(b) 340 Hz (in the passband), compared to a uniform cylindrical shell having the same damping layer
configuration. The shaded areas represent the ABH portions.

10
Periodic Acoustic Black Holes to Mitigate Sound Radiation from Cylindrical Structures
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101959

3.3 Sound radiation from stiffened ABH shells

Note that the embedded ABHs may obviously reduce the structural stiffness of
the shell, therefore, the stiffeners (see Figure 2d) can be utilized to alleviate this
issue. In this section, we first investigate the effects of the stiffener number, then
study that of the stiffener width.
For simplicity, let us first consider three cases. That is, the stiffener number
N ¼ f 8, 16, 32g , while the width of each stiffener keeps W ¼ 4huni . As shown in
Figure 9a, when adding eight stiffeners the vibration level is very similar to the
ABH shell (without stiffener), except for the frequencies in the BGs. Increasing the
stiffener number will further deteriorate the vibration in the BGs, but it seems that
the MSV level is similar to that of the unstiffened one. This means that the combi-
nation of the ABH and stiffeners not only results in a more rigid structure (com-
pared to the pure ABH one) but also maintains the overall damping effect. Similar
results can be found for the radiated SWL (see Figure 9b). The existence of the
stiffeners almost merely increases the SWL in the BGs, yet in the passbands, the
stiffened ABH shell has a similar SWL to that of the unstiffened one. Furthermore,
the radiation efficiency is checked (see Figure 9c). From the figure, we can see that
after inserting stiffeners the radiation efficiency in the 2-nd (the 1-st BG is not
shown here) is very small and, that for the case of 32 stiffeners the efficiency is the
lowest over 700 Hz. In general, the stiffeners will not obviously degrade the reduc-
tion ability of the ABH shell.

Figure 9.
(a) Mean square velocity (MSV), (b) sound power level (SWL), and (c) radiation efficiency, for the
cylindrical shell having a different number of stiffeners with the same width W ¼ 4huni .

11
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Now we keep the 16 stiffeners in the circumferential direction for each cell but
modify the width from W ¼ 4huni to W ¼ 8huni , then to W ¼ 16h uni. Similar to the
above results, from Figure 10 it can be observed that increasing the stiffener width
mainly intensifies the MSV and SWL in the BGs, while their values in the passbands
almost do not change. Particularly, the radiation efficiency of the stiffened shells is
obviously lower than the ABH shell at frequencies greater than 650 Hz. Even large
stiffener width will enlarge the vibration and the radiated sound power at low
frequencies (e.g., at 180 Hz), the high-frequency performance is still plausible and
the structure is more rigid.
For the purpose of illustration, we have figured out the normal velocity and
sound pressure distributions on the finite shells at 340 Hz (in passband). The
former is graphed in Figure 11 while the latter in Figure 12. From Figure 11, we can
see that the vibration level of the uniform shell is very strong (Figure 11a), but the
ABHs can help reduce the overall vibration, with only strong vibrations in the ABH
portions where the damping layer is very effective (Figure 11b). After adding
stiffeners (Figure 11c1–d3), the vibration in the ABH areas is intensified compared
to Figure 11b. The sound pressure distributions in Figure 12 display that the ABH
and stiffened ABH shells can also effectively reduce the sound pressure, compared
to the reference uniform shell. The existence of the stiffener makes the distributions
no longer axially symmetrical, except for Figure 12c3 where a lot of small and
distributed stiffeners are imposed.

Figure 10.
(a) Mean square velocity (MSV), (b) sound power level (SWL), and (c) radiation efficiency, for the
cylindrical shell having 16 stiffeners with different widths.

12
Periodic Acoustic Black Holes to Mitigate Sound Radiation from Cylindrical Structures
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101959

Figure 11.
Surface normal velocity distributions at 340 Hz. (a) Uniform shell, (b) ABH shell without stiffener, (c1)-(c3)
stiffened ABH shell with the different number of stiffeners of the same width, (d1)-(d3) stiffened ABH shell
with 16 stiffeners having different widths. The red circles stand for the ring force.

4. Conclusions

In the current chapter, the acoustic black hole (ABH) effect is concerned and
applied to cylindrical structures. By reducing thickness following the power law, the
wave velocity is substantially slowed and the wavenumber is increased when it
propagates to the ABH center, where the damping layer is very efficient to consume
vibrational energy. The focus is placed on reducing the sound emission from cylin-
drical shells, which can be found in many fields, via embedding periodic ABHs.
First, the reconstructed Gaussian expansion method (GEM) is presented to charac-
terize infinite periodic ABH shells. The band gaps (BGs), induced by the locally
resonant effect in the ABH area, are investigated, together with the influence of the
ABH parameters. Next, the sound radiation model for finite periodic cylindrical
shells is developed. Numerical results show that the periodic ABHs can both reduce
the vibration and sound power, relying on two mechanisms—(i) the BGs for

13
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 12.
Surface sound pressure distributions at 340 Hz. (a) Uniform shell, (b) ABH shell without stiffener, (c1)-(c3)
stiffened ABH shell with the different number of stiffeners of the same width, (d1)-(d3) stiffened ABH shell
with 16 stiffeners having different widths. The red circles stand for the ring force.

isolating vibrations and (ii) the damping effects for energy consumption. The
inclusion of stiffeners not only strengthens the structural stiffness but also keeps the
vibration and sound power level as the pure ABH one in the passbands.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(grant number 11704314) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant
numbers 2018M631194 and 2020T130533).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

14
Periodic Acoustic Black Holes to Mitigate Sound Radiation from Cylindrical Structures
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101959

15
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

References

[1] Krylov VV, Tilman FJBS. Acoustic [8] Ma L, Zhang S, Cheng L. A 2D

black holes for flexural waves as Daubechies wavelet model on the
effective vibration dampers. Journal of vibration of rectangular plates
Sound and Vibration. 2004;274(3): containing strip indentations with
605-619. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsv.2003.05.010 a parabolic thickness profile.
Journal of Sound and Vibration. 2018;
[2] Krylov VV. A new type of vibration 429:130-146. DOI: 10.1016/j.
damper based on flexural wave jsv.2018.04.042
propagation in laminated wedges of
powerlaw profile. The Journal of the [9] Tang L, Cheng L, Ji H, Qiu J.
Acoustical Society of America. 2001; Characterization of acoustic black hole
110(5):2654-2654. DOI: 10.1121/ effect using a one-dimensional fully-
1.4777028 coupled and wavelet-decomposed semi-
analytical model. Journal of Sound and
[3] Krylov VV, Winward RETB. Vibration. 2016;374:172-184. DOI:
Experimental investigation of the 10.1016/j.jsv.2016.03.031
acoustic black hole effect for flexural
waves in tapered plates. Journal of [10] Jeon W, Lee JY. Vibration damping
Sound and Vibration. 2007;300(1): using a spiral acoustic black hole. The
43-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsv.2006.07.035 Journal of the Acoustical Society of
America. 2017;141(5):3644-3644. DOI:
[4] Deng J, Zheng L, Zeng P, Zuo Y, 10.1121/1.4987872
Guasch O. Passive constrained
viscoelastic layers to improve the [11] Tang L, Cheng L. Enhanced acoustic
efficiency of truncated acoustic black black hole effect in beams with a
holes in beams. Mechanical Systems and modified thickness profile and extended
Signal Processing. 2019;118:461-476. platform. Journal of Sound and
DOI: 10.1016/j.ymssp.2018.08.053 Vibration. 2017;391:116-126. DOI:
10.1016/j.jsv.2016.11.010
[5] Zeng P, Zheng L, Deng J,
Elsabbagh A, Xiang S, Yan T, et al. [12] Fu Q , Du X, Wu J, Zhang J.
Flexural wave concentration in tapered Dynamic property investigation of
cylindrical beams and wedge-like segmented acoustic black hole beam
rectangular beams with power-law with different power-law thicknesses.
thickness. Journal of Sound and Smart Materials and Structures. 2021;
Vibration. 2019;452:82-96. DOI: 30(5):055001. DOI: 10.1088/1361-665x/
10.1016/j.jsv.2019.04.002 abed32

[6] Li H, Touz C, Pelat A, Gautier F, [13] Bowyer EP, Krylov VV.

Kong X. A vibro-impact acoustic black Experimental study of sound radiation
hole for passive damping of flexural by plates containing circular
beam vibrations. Journal of Sound and indentations of power-law profile.
Vibration. 2019;450:28-46. DOI: Applied Acoustics. 2015;88:30-37. DOI:
10.1016/j.jsv.2019.03.004 10.1016/j.apacoust.2014.07.014

[7] Deng J, Guasch O, Zheng L. [14] Li X, Ding Q. Sound radiation of a

Ring-shaped acoustic black holes for beam with a wedge-shaped edge
broadband vibration isolation in plates. embedding acoustic black hole feature.
Journal of Sound and Vibration. 2019; Journal of Sound and Vibration. 2019;
458:109-122. DOI: 10.1016/j. 439:287-299. DOI: 10.1016/j.
jsv.2019.06.017 jsv.2018.10.009

16
Periodic Acoustic Black Holes to Mitigate Sound Radiation from Cylindrical Structures
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.101959

[15] Ma L, Cheng L. Sound radiation and vibrations in circular beams with

transonic boundaries of a plate with an embedded acoustic black holes. Journal
acoustic black hole. The Journal of the of Sound and Vibration. 2020;476:
Acoustical Society of America. 2019; 115307. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsv.2020.115307
145(1):164-172. DOI: 10.1121/1.5081680
[23] Deng J, Guasch O, Maxit L, Zheng L.
[16] Deng J, Guasch O, Maxit L, Zheng L. Vibration of cylindrical shells with
Transmission loss of plates with multiple embedded annular acoustic black holes
embedded acoustic black holes using using the Rayleigh-Ritz method with
statistical modal energy distribution Gaussian basis functions. Mechanical
analysis. Mechanical Systems and Signal Systems and Signal Processing. 2021;
Processing. 2021;150:107262. DOI: 150:107225. DOI: 10.1016/j.
10.1016/j.ymssp.2020.107262 ymssp.2020.107225

[17] Deng J, Zheng L. Noise reduction via [24] Deng J, Guasch O, Maxit L,
three types of acoustic black holes. Zheng L. Reduction of Bloch-Floquet
Mechanical Systems and Signal bending waves via annular acoustic
Processing. 2022;165:108323. DOI: black holes in periodically supported
10.1016/j.ymssp.2021.108323 cylindrical shell structures. Applied
Acoustics. 2020;169:107424. DOI:
[18] Deng J, Guasch O, Zheng L. 10.1016/j.apacoust.2020.107424
Reconstructed Gaussian basis to
characterize flexural wave collimation [25] Deng J, Guasch O, Maxit L, Zheng L.
in plates with periodic arrays of annular Annular acoustic black holes to reduce
acoustic black holes. International sound radiation from cylindrical shells.
Journal of Mechanical Sciences. 2021; Mechanical Systems and Signal
194:106179. DOI: 10.1016/j. Processing. 2021;158:107722. DOI:
ijmecsci.2020.106179 10.1016/j.ymssp.2021.107722

[19] Deng J, Zheng L, Gao N. Broad band [26] Deng J, Zheng L, Guasch O, Wu H,
gaps for flexural wave manipulation in Zeng P, Zuo Y. Gaussian expansion for
plates with embedded periodic strip the vibration analysis of plates with
acoustic black holes. International multiple acoustic black holes
Journal of Solids and Structures. 2021; indentations. Mechanical Systems and
224:111043. DOI: 10.1016/j. Signal Processing. 2019;131:317-334.
ijsolstr.2021.111043 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymssp.2019.05.024

[20] Deng J, Zheng L, Guasch O. [27] Sivasubramonian B, Rao GV,

Elliptical acoustic black holes for Krishnan A. Free vibration of
flexural wave lensing in plates. Applied longitudinally stiffened curved panels
Acoustics. 2021;174:107744. DOI: with cutout. Journal of Sound and
10.1016/j.apacoust.2020.107744 Vibration. 1999;226(1):41-55. DOI:
10.1006/jsvi.1999.2281
[21] Deng J, Guasch O, Zheng L, Song T,
Cao Y. Semi-analytical model of an [28] Tang L, Cheng L. Broadband locally
acoustic black hole piezoelectric resonant band gaps in periodic beam
bimorph cantilever for energy structures with embedded acoustic
harvesting. Journal of Sound and black holes. Journal of Applied Physics.
Vibration. 2021;494:115790. DOI: 2017;121(19):194901. DOI: 10.1063/
10.1016/j.jsv.2020.115790 1.4983459

[22] Deng J, Guasch O, Zheng L. A semi- [29] Stepanishen PR. Radiated power
analytical method for characterizing and radiation loading of cylindrical

17
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

surfaces with nonuniform velocity

distributions. The Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America. 1978;
63(2):328-338. DOI: 10.1121/1.381743

[30] Sun Y, Yang T, Chen Y. Sound

radiation modes of cylindrical surfaces
and their application to vibro-acoustics
analysis of cylindrical shells. Journal of
Sound and Vibration. 2018;424:64-77.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsv.2018.03.004

18
 Chapter 6

Trailing Edge Bluntness Noise

Characterization for Horizontal
Axis Wind Turbines [HAWT]
Blades
Satya Prasad Maddula, Vasishta Bhargava Nukala,
Swamy Naidu Neigapula Venkata,
Chinmaya Prasad Padhy and Rahul Samala

Abstract

Wind turbine noise is becoming a critical issue for many offshore and
land-based wind projects. In this work, we analyzed trailing edge bluntness vortex
shedding noise source for a land-based turbine of size 2 MW and blade span of 38 m
using original Brooks Pope and Marcolini (BPM)and modified BPM noise model. A
regression-based curve fitting approach has been implemented to predict the shape
function in terms of thickness to chord ratio of aerofoils used for blade. For trailing
edge height of 0.1% chord, computations for sound power level were done at wind
speed of 8 m/s, 17 RPM. The results showed that present approach for thickness
correction predicts the noise peak of 78dBA at f  10 kHz which is 15dBA lower
than that predicted from original BPM. The results were also validated using exper-
iment data from GE 1.5sle, Siemens 2.3 MW turbines with blade lengths between
78 m and 101 m which agreed within 2% at high frequencies, f > 5 kHz. In addition,
results from present approach for trailing edge bluntness noise agreed well with
modified BPM by Wei et al. at high frequencies, f  10 kHz where it becomes
dominant. The slope of noise curves from present approach, and modified BPM
methods are lower when compared with original BPM.

Keywords: Noise, blades, trailing edge, turbulent boundary layer, sound power

1. Introduction

Wind power is growing at exponential rate with installed wind power capacity
reached more than 500 GW globally. By far the cheapest source of energy genera-
tion among all renewable energy technologies is wind power. As more wind power
projects are installed, a growing concern of noise emissions from wind turbine
blades is increasing due to adverse health effects on inhabitants living near wind
farms [1]. Many policy makers are considering this issue seriously as noise gener-
ated from wind turbines is an impediment to the growth of wind energy growth.
Modern megawatt scale turbines have large rotor diameter of size 100 m and above
which contribute to the overall noise levels and cause annoyance for people living

1
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

near wind farms. Figure 1 depicts the evolution of size of horizontal axis wind
turbines over the period of forty years. Size of rotor diameter ranges from 17 m to
165 m with its nominal power range between 70 kW to 6 MW.
Airfoil self-noise from wind turbines with longer blades have higher tip speeds
and produce high aerodynamic noise. Studies by several researchers have found
that most of the broadband aerodynamic noise emissions occur due to trailing edge
source from rotating blades such as from helicopter, wind turbines and compressors
[2–5]. However when the blades become thicker, the trailing edge bluntness source
also dominates between moderate to high frequency range in noise spectra. Airfoil
self-noise prediction models developed by Brooks Pope and Marcolini (BPM) have
been studied and improved by several researchers [6–8]. One of the recent
improvements in the trailing edge bluntness noise predictions was done by Wei
et al. (2016) who applied numerical techniques and correlated their results with
field experiments measured for Siemens 2.3 MW wind turbine blade. They also used
computational aero-acoustic (CAA) method to compute the trailing edge bluntness
noise level from NACA 0012 airfoil with finite thickness for consistent validation of
results obtained from BPM semi empirical noise prediction model and measured
noise data. In addition, NACA 63–418 with two different variants of trailing edge
shapes were studied to compare the noise spectra. They modified the generalized
shape function proposed by original BPM model and made it independent of the
solid angle formed between the trailing edge surfaces of airfoil to investigate the
effect of the shape function on the trailing edge tonal noise peak produced in the
high frequency region of sound spectra. In the present study, we investigate the
shape function used by BPM model for predicting the trailing edge bluntness noise
source but also apply regression approach to improve the bluntness peak at the high
frequency region of noise spectra. To the best of authors knowledge, regression
approach has not been implemented before to study the effects of trailing edge tonal
noise source for wind turbine blades. In Section 2, we describe the trailing edge
bluntness noise method developed by BPM along with present formulation. In
Section 3, geometry model of wind turbine blade used in study is described along
with IEC 61400–11 standards for measurements of acoustic emissions for wind
turbines. Computational assumptions are described for the generating aerodynamic
flow field by means of BEM which is coupled to the noise solver for predicting
sound power level. The noise solver for the trailing edge bluntness source is

Figure 1.
Illustration of size of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) and its evolution over a period of forty years.

2
Trailing Edge Bluntness Noise Characterization for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines [HAWT]…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.99880

developed based on the original BPM model along with its improvements proposed
by [9]. Regression method is then applied on trailing edge noise shape function
based on the coefficients obtained for the modified trailing edge height of the
airfoils along the span wise direction of blade. In Section 4, present results for
trailing edge bluntness noise source are compared to those obtained from original
BPM, modified BPM by [9]. Overall 1/3rd octave band sound power level for the
2 MW wind turbine with a blade length of 38 m are computed and validated with
experiment data of the GE 1.5sle, Siemens SWT 2.3 MW with 93 m, 95 m, and 101 m
versions of turbines. Finally, conclusions are presented based on the results
obtained for the original BPM, modified BPM and present correction function for
airfoil thickness to chord ratio.

2. Methods

2.1 BPM model: trailing edge bluntness vortex shedding

Flow around wind turbine blades can be considered often as incompressible and
low Mach number for most utility scale wind turbines. Even though they operate in
environments where the effects of air density and wind shear on power production are
significant, aerodynamic noise generation from wind turbine blades becomes impor-
tant when the blade tip speed range between 0.1 and 0.3 Mach number. As length of
blade is increased, the sound radiation from blades depends not only upon aerofoil
geometry, local angle of attack for the aerofoils but also the rotational speed of rotor.
One of the noise mechanisms from blades occurs due to periodic vortex shedding from
suction side of trailing edge surface when the turbulent boundary layer flow interacts
with blade surface and contributes to a monotonic peak in high frequency region of
noise spectrum. For a given flow condition i.e., Reynolds number and Mach number
along the span wise direction of the blade strongly affects the overall noise levels as
well as the tonal noise production. Typically, the noise amplitudes increase with
increase in flow Mach number and Reynolds number of order 8 x 106.
Vortex shedding is aerodynamic phenomenon observed on both streamlined and
bluff bodies such as an aerofoil or a cylinder and becomes dominant when there
exists an adverse pressure gradient within the boundary layer which causes a rela-
tive difference in the flow velocities between the surface and free stream flow
conditions. According to BPM model, the trailing edge vortex shedding occurs
when the turbulent boundary layer displacement thickness is at least 30% higher
than characteristic dimension of source [6, 10]. In addition, flow conditions such as
angle of attack, Reynolds number and Mach number affect the aerodynamic lift and
drag force characteristics of an aerofoil. It can be noted that for low angle of attack
and attached flows, vortex shedding from trailing edge occurs rapidly and produces
unsteady lift which often result in higher noise generation [11]. The lift and drag
coefficient at high angle of attack also increases rapidly but reach maximum values
near stall angle of attack. For aerofoils with finite trailing edge thickness, and at stall
angle of attack, the vortex shedding phenomenon is reduced due to turbulent
boundary layer separation near the trailing edge. Beyond the stall angle of attack,
significant reduction of lift can be observed and hence vortex noise from aerofoils is
also reduced. BPM model predicts noise radiation from aerofoils using relative
velocity and angle of attack as primary inputs and computes the turbulent boundary
layer data for suction and pressure sides of aerofoil. This data varies according to
the thickness of trailing edge of aerofoil as well as the chord length of aerofoil. As
the thickness to chord increases, the turbulent boundary layer on the suction side of
aerofoil becomes less stable and tend to shed vortices rapidly. For a rotating wind

3
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

turbine blade, the vortex shedding occurrence happens at faster rate which leads to
the massive flow separation near the tip of blade due to centrifugal force action on
the flow. The separated flow appears as wake which has lower velocity compared to
free stream flow condition and contributes to aerodynamic noise. Further,
according to this method, the strength of this source is approximated using the
spectral functions, G4 and G5 which are functions of ratio of trailing edge thickness
and average turbulent boundary layer displacement thickness from pressure and
suction sides of aerofoil as given by Eq. (5). Hence, it is needed to compute the
spectral functions G4 and G5 as given by Eq. (6)–(8). G4 represents the narrowband
peak in spectra and G5 is used to determine the broadband overall shape of spectra
”’ ”’
which is dependent on Strouhal number, St and Stpeak .
The two spectral functions (G5)φ = 14 and (G5)φ = 0 are solid angles which are
determined using the symmetric NACA 0012 aerofoil experiments and given by
Eq. from (76) to (82) in (Brooks et al., 1989). As mentioned by [6, 10], the blunt-
ness vortex shedding source appears as tonal peak in the overall noise spectra and
becomes dominant near 10 kHz masking other self-noise mechanisms. It must be
noted that the functional parameters in Eq. (1) are expressed in terms of the flow
angle of attack, bluntness ratio h/δ*, for aerofoil at moderate to high Reynolds
number; at the same time, they show the dependence of Mach number, M5.5. The
noise levels are also found to vary with the span segment length of aerofoil, L and
inverse square of the distance between source and receiver, r2e as given in Eq. (1).
The Strouhal number for this type of source is defined according to Eq. (2) where h
is the height of trailing edge. It must be noted that at moderate Reynolds number
and for subsonic Mach number flows, the chord Reynolds number and turbulent
boundary layer thickness and displacement thicknesses for zero and non-zero angle
of attack are evaluated using Eq. (5) and Eq. (16) given in [6]. The 1/3rd octave
sound pressure for this source is approximated using the Eq. (1). The narrowband
tonal peak is given by function G4 and expressed using Eqs. (6) and (7).
Function G5 is calculated using ratio of trailing edge thickness to average
boundary layer displacement thickness and sloping angle, φ between 0° to 14° given
by Eq. (78) and Eq. (79) found in [6] where φ is the angle between the sloping
surfaces near trailing edge of aerofoil and δ*p and δ*s are the pressure and suction
side turbulent boundary layer displacement thickness, and h is the trailing edge
height. The empirical equations used to determine the pressure and suction side
displacement thicknesses for zero and non-zero angle of attack for symmetric aero-
foils are given in [6]. They are found to be dependent upon the local angle of attack
and chord Reynolds number. For an aerofoil, it is expressed in terms of the turbu-
lent boundary layer displacement thicknesses for the pressure and suction side. This
source also uses the high frequency directivity function like turbulent boundary
layer trailing edge noise and given by the Eq. (9).
! !
hM5:5 LDh h h St‴
SPLBlunt ¼ 10 log þ G 4 ∗ , φ þ G 5 ∗ , φ, ‴ , (1)
r 2e δ avg δ avg Stpeak

‴ fh
St ¼ , (2)
U
‴ 0:212  0:0045φ h
Stpeak ¼ , for ≥ 0:2, (3)
h
1
h
2 δ ∗avg
1 þ 0:235 δ∗avg  0:0132 ∗
δavg
   
‴ h h
Stpeak ¼ 0:1 ∗ ! þ 0:095  0:00243φ, for ∗ < 0:2, (4)
δavg δavg

4
Trailing Edge Bluntness Noise Characterization for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines [HAWT]…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.99880

δ ∗p þ δs∗
δ∗avg ¼ , (5)
2
!
h h h
G4 ,φ ¼ 17:5 log ∗ þ 157, 5  1:114φ, for ≤ 5, (6)
δ ∗avg δavg δ ∗avg
!
h h
G4 ,φ ¼ 169:7  1:114φ, for > 5, (7)
δ∗avg δ ∗avg
!
‴
h St h i
G5 ∗ , φ, ¼ ðG5 Þφ¼0° þ 0:0714φ ðG 5Þ φ¼14°  ð G 5Þ φ¼0° , (8)
δ avg St‴peak

2 sin 2 ð1=2θÞ sin 2 ϕ

D H ðθ, ϕÞ ¼ 2, (9)
ð1 þ M  cos θÞ½ 1 þ ð M  MCÞ cos θ

where θ, ϕ are the directivity angles between the source and receiver line aligned
to blade span and chord direction with respect to the receiver position. M is the
Mach number and Mc is the convective Mach number. h, is the trailing edge height.
The denominator term in Eq. (9) represents the Doppler effect and convective
amplification of acoustic waves produced at the trailing edge of aerofoil [6, 10,
12, 13]. It has been proven that for high values of Strouhal number or for the order
greater than 2, the flow is dominated by turbulent boundary layer thickness and
results in small scale flow instabilities [6, 14–16].
The Strouhal number and the shape functions vary with the shape of aerofoil,
inflow velocity conditions and local angle of attack. Experiments conducted by [6]
used a reference chord length for test aerofoil which was 30.86 cm and boundary
tripping was done with help of 2 cm wide strip or grit applied at 15% chord length.
Tripping of boundary layer resulted in reduction of the noise levels in certain
frequency regions of sound spectrum [7, 8, 17]. For the present analysis, tripping of
turbulent boundary layer has not been taken into consideration.
The maximum trailing edge height in BPM model aerofoil experiments was
2.5 mm which is 0.8% of chord. For the present case of 38 m blade, it is 32.2 mm
and corresponds to 1% chord, respectively.

2.2 Shape function and trailing edge thickness approximation proposed by

Wei et al

As mentioned previously, trailing edge bluntness vortex shedding model was

developed based on the experiment data obtained from NACA 0012. To account for
the effects of vortex shedding noise levels, the geometry near the trailing edge
requires an interpolation function essentially to approximate the height of trailing
edge sloping surfaces. Standard solid angle was specified as ψ = 14o for a NACA
0012 aerofoil while for a flat plate it is ψ = 0 o. However, it must be noted that a wind
turbine blade has finite thickness and varying camber along span direction. This
led to erroneous predictions of the trailing edge noise levels. Hence [9] used a
modified interpolation function for the trailing edge bluntness noise source and
corrected the Eq. (1) using two additional functions viz. S1 and S2. S 1 is the shape
function that is equivalent to the actual G5 function and S 2 is the correction function
for aerofoil thickness variation along the span wise direction of the blade given by
Eqs. (10) and (11)

5
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

hM5:7LD h
   
 2
 h h St
SPLBlunt ¼ 10 log 10 þ 20 1 þ M log 10 þ S 1 ,
r2e δ ∗ avg δ ∗ avg Stpeak
t 
þ S2 þ K0
c
(10)
t  3 t 2 t 
S2 ¼ 654:43  652:26 þ 58:77 (11)
c c c

Where, the constant, Ko is taken as 150 for h/δ* < 0.2 otherwise Ko is approxi-
mated as 150–20(h/δ* -0.2) 0.25. The Eq. (10) was modified in such a way that noise
levels are not dependent of the solid angle formed at the trailing edge surfaces
rather expressed as function of the bluntness height h, Mach number, M, and
average of the boundary layer displacement thickness between suction and pressure
sides of airfoil, δ*avg . Further, in the modified BPM for trailing edge bluntness, the
sound pressure level is proportional M 5.7 instead of M5.5 . This change also demon-
strates that the sound pressure for trailing edge bluntness source is sensitive to flow
Mach number increments.

2.3 Modified thickness approximation using regression curve fitting

In the present study the basic shape function for the trailing edge angle is
taken as from the original BPM model. However, for the shape function, G5 the
trailing edge angle is varied continuously between the blade root and tip section
to account for differences in blade geometry. Since, the trailing edge sloping sur-
faces are proportional to the trailing edge height, a change in trailing edge angle
parameter is retained in present noise computations while correction function for
airfoil thickness, S2 is modified in terms of thickness to chord ratio for each span
segment of the blade similar to that proposed by [9]. One must note that coeffi-
cients in the modified function for thickness are obtained by regression and given
by Eq. (12)
t 3 t 2 t 
S2 ¼ 0:02158 þ 0:9518  13:38 þ 61:4 (12)
c c c

3. Simulation assumptions

In the analysis of sound pressure from wind turbine blade, generalized blade
element momentum (BEM) method was used to compute the relative velocity field
along the blade span. The outputs of BEM solver are relative velocity on the blade
section, angle of attack, normal and tangential force coefficients on every section of
blade which can be used to compute rotor loading forces and moments. The outputs
from BEM solver are coupled to BPM noise prediction module for which, sound
pressure level computations are done at a given wind speed, blade pitch angle and
rotational speed of the machine.
In the BEM approach the total length of blade is discretized into several aerofoils
at least 20 segments. Aerofoil can be assumed as half-infinite flat plate with finite
thickness and aspect ratio. The flow over flat plate was assumed to be 2D incom-
pressible and quasi uniform along the blade length which means that flow behavior
does vary from one span station to another along the blade span. The overall shape
of blade is approximated using selected aerofoils, viz. NACA 0012, NACA 6320 and

6
Trailing Edge Bluntness Noise Characterization for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines [HAWT]…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.99880

NACA 63215 while the turbulent boundary layer properties on suction and pressure
side of aerofoils is computed from XFOIL module. The boundary layer data for
aerofoil serve as input to the noise prediction module.
In the prediction of sound pressure levels, each blade segment is treated as a
point source in near field and rotating blade as line source. In the far field sound
prediction however, the rotor of turbine acts as point source when operating in a
wind farm. Sound pressure level is thus calculated by logarithmic addition of indi-
vidual sources relative to observer position. For the present simulation work, the
receiver height was fixed at 2 m above the ground level and the source height was
fixed at 80 m. The distance of the receiver location was set at 110 m, which is
approximately the total turbine height (HH + D/2). This is in accordance with IEC
61400–11 regulations for measurements of acoustic emissions from wind turbines.
HH is the hub height of turbine, and D is the rotor diameter in m.
A downwind scenario is considered as the worst case since sound waves bend in
downward direction with respect to free stream wind and this results in amplifica-
tion. Therefore, downwind receiver location is considered. The boundary condi-
tions for the blade are Reynolds number, the angle of attack along the blade span.
It is implemented to verify that blade element momentum (BEM) computed
values do not exceed predefined threshold values as given in [6]. The blade pitch
angle is set to 3.5° for sound pressure calculations and rotation speed for machine
as 17 RPM.

3.1 Geometric model of turbine

For the assessment of trailing edge bluntness noise from horizontal axis wind
turbine rotors, a geometric model for the blade has been developed using NuMAD
software [18]. The software allows user to input the aerofoil data at every span wise
location of the blade. Table 1 shows the turbine design parameters along with
orientation of rotor into wind.
Figure 2 shows the isometric (3D) model of the 38 m blade for the 2 MW wind
turbine used for analyzing the trailing edge bluntness noise. Towards the inboard
region, the airfoils have high thickness to chord ratio with at least 18% t/c as well as
high camber. In the present study NACA 6320 airfoil data have been used with a

Parameter Value

Cone angle 0°

Tilt angle 3°

Hub height 80 m

Blade Radius 38 m

Rotor speed 17 RPM

Max twist 13°

Max chord 3.22 m

Orientation Upwind

No of blades 3

Rated power 2 MW

Table 1.
Turbine parameters for 2 MW machine.

7
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 2.
Isometric (3D) model of wind turbine developed using NuMAD software showing the airfoil sections used near
the blade root, mid-span, and tip of the blade [18].

Figure 3.
Geometric properties shown along the normalized blade span for a wind turbine blade having a length of 38 m.

trailing edge slope angle of 14 o. In the mid span region, the airfoils have moderate
thickness to chord ratio. The geometric properties of the blade are depicted in
Figure 3. It is evident that chord length and twist remain constant for root section
which connects the blade to the rotor hub.

8
Trailing Edge Bluntness Noise Characterization for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines [HAWT]…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.99880

Figure 4.
Illustration of microphone position surrounding the source located in Centre as well as the microphone
measurement distances and position according to IEC 61400–11 standards with respect to source.

3.2 IEC 61400-11 standard for measurement of sound level

The relative position of the receiver with respect to aerofoil coordinate system is
shown in Figure 4. For a wind turbine blade, in addition to the turbulent boundary
layer, wind speed and free stream mach number responsible for trailing edge vortex
shedding noise, the sound levels also depend on blades pitch angle operation.
Particularly for moderate pitch angles and at low or positive angle of attack, the
boundary layer on the pressure side of aerofoil at leading edge shows laminar flow
structure; however, the boundary layer on suction side remains mostly in turbulent
state near the trailing edge. Further, it is important to note that such a type of noise
mechanism is dominant in mid span region of blade where trailing edge thicknesses
are high for which maximum Strouhal number is found to be 0.15. Below this value,
the vortex shed from the trailing edge surface does not contribute significantly to
the noise levels [8, 10].

4. Results and discussion

In this section we present results for the turbulent boundary layer vortex shed-
ding noise from a 2 MW horizontal axis wind turbine blade using original BPM
model predictions, modified by [9] and compare them with numerical computa-
tions implemented using the correction function for airfoil thickness. Figure 5
illustrates the noise prediction from wind turbine blades using first order empirical
methods which are based on the turbine geometric and operating parameters viz.
rotor diameter, nominal power rating of machine and blade tip speed. Although
such methods can predict sound power levels, they do not take account of the
physical phenomenon responsible for the noise radiation from rotating blades at
broadband frequencies and hence not reliable. Also, it can be said noise models
proposed by [21–23] are simple algebraic functions that depend on nominal power

9
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 5.
Illustration of sound power level based on empirical relations proposed by [19–21].

Wind Turbine Model dB(A) Power (kW) Hub Height (m)(m) Rotor Diameter (m)

AN Bonus 600 kW/41 101.6 600 50 41

DeWind 41 99.6 500 40 41

DeWind 46 97.9 600 40 46

Enercon E-41 99 500 50 41

NORDTANK 500/41 103.2 500 50 41

SEEWIND 52–750-65 99 750 55 52

VESTAS V 66/1.65 MW 103 1650 60 66

Windtechnik-Nord 200/26 101 200 40 26

Table 2.
Sound power level, LwA for utility scale commercial wind turbine models.

rating of the machine, rotor diameter and blade tip speed only. Sound power pre-
dictions from [22, 23] agree well for rotor diameters that range between 10 m and
100 m and thought to be less conservative compared to actual or measured data.
Similarly, Lowson’s empirical equation make use of only nominal power rating of
machine, which implies that sound power level varies with size of machine. Hagg
(1992) also developed a slightly more sophisticated model which can predict sound
pressure level based on the axial thrust force coefficient, rotor swept area and the
number of blades in machine along with empirical constants given in [21]. How-
ever, the model does not predict sound power levels for broadband frequency range
of noise spectra. Some advanced noise prediction simulation software’s developed
by Siemens XNoise, NREL’s NAFNoise are useful tools which can predict the noise
levels for utility scale wind turbines. Table 2 shows the measured sound power level
(PWL) for some of commercial wind turbine models taken from SoundPLAN
software.

10
Trailing Edge Bluntness Noise Characterization for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines [HAWT]…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.99880

Figure 6.
Shape function, G5 , computed for different trailing edge bluntness thickness, h/δ*avg using (a) original BPM [6]
(b) modified BPM by [9].

Figure 6(a) depicts the results for shape function, G5 obtained from original
BPM model. As the average boundary layer displacement thickness is reduced, the
frequency of vortex shedding increased despite a change in the angle of attack and
flow Mach number, M along the blade span. This difference can be attributed to
solid angle inclusion in the original BPM model which considered trailing edge
sloping angle, ψ as essential condition to vortex shedding phenomenon in addition
to the trailing edge height, flow Mach number and Reynolds number.
From Figure 6(b) the shape function G5 modified by [9] has been computed for
trailing edge height to average boundary layer displacement thickness ratios, h/δ*avg
between 0.51 and 1.01. The function showed a linear change in amplitude, dB for all
Strouhal numbers of ratios between 0 and 1. As the peak Strouhal number, Stpeak is
increased, one can notice that tonal peak for trailing edge bluntness was found to be
increasing. This effect was also observed with numerical CAA results obtained by
[9] in their study for NACA 0012 and NACA 63–418 airfoil which have 3%
camber and maximum thickness of 18%. It is important to note that CAA compu-
tations such as large eddy simulation (LES) can predict the acoustic radiation from
airfoils by solving for the largest scales of turbulent flows and approximating the
small scale motions. In contrast to the semi-empirical BPM model, the sound pres-
sure level near the surface can be computed by solving the 2D-Navier–Stokes (N-S)
equations that are coupled to advanced turbulence models and high accuracy com-
putational grid schemes suitable for acoustic pressure computations [14]. Similarly,
the A-weighted 1/3rd octave band tonal noise spectra has been computed at wind
speed of 6 m/s, 14 RPM having a blade pitch of 3.5o.
Figure 7(a)–(d) demonstrates the contour plot of peak Strouhal number, plot-
ted along the blade span for various blade azimuth angles in rotor plane and for
different trailing edge thicknesses computed at wind speed of 8 m/s [19]. The
maximum values can be observed between 0.1 r/R and 0.75 r/R along the blade span
where the thickness to chord ratio is high when the blade azimuth angle is at 300o.
With increasing trailing edge thicknesses, the peak Strouhal number kept increasing
from 0.13 to 0.2. This also signifies shape function, G 5 have high tonal peaks
demonstrating influence of trailing edge vortex shedding from blade caused due to
change in the trailing edge thicknesses.
On the other hand, the original BPM model showed a strong tonal peak effect in
noise spectrum at 12% r/R where the thickness to chord ratio is found increasing.
Figure 8 shows the computed values for overall A-weighted 1/3 rd octave band
sound power level for 2 MW turbine, turbulent boundary layer trailing edge noise

11
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 7.
Peak Strouhal number, Stpeak”’, along normalized blade span and blade azimuth angles at U = 8 m/s for TE
thicknesses (a) 0.1% chord (b) 0.5% chord (c) 1% chord (d) 1.5% chord.

Figure 8.
Comparison of trailing edge bluntness noise using present approach to those predicted by BPM original, BPM
modified [9]) and its validation with experimental data from Siemens SWT 2.3 MW and GE 1.5sle turbines
at wind speed of 8 m/s for trailing edge thickness of 0.1% chord.

12
Trailing Edge Bluntness Noise Characterization for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines [HAWT]…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.99880

(TBL-TE) as well as trailing edge bluntness noise using original BPM model. All the
computations were done in MATLAB 2020b software, for a wind speed of 8 m/s at
blade pitch angle of 3.5o and trailing edge thickness taken 0.1% chord length.
Further, modified BPM model by [9] for trailing edge bluntness noise has also been
computed to compare the actual results with present method. The present method
focused on the regression approach for thickness correction along the blade span. It
can be noted that present results produced similar trailing edge noise characteristics
except for the noise peak change found at 10 kHz in the noise spectra. Also, one can
observe that current approach for thickness correction leads to better agreement of
the trailing edge bluntness peak with experiment data obtained from GE 1.5sle
rather than Siemens 2.3 MW-101, Siemens 2.3 MW-95 and Siemens 2.3 MW-93
turbines. On the contrary, the trailing edge bluntness peak from original BPM
model showed a broad hump which do not agree well with experiment validation
data for turbines. For frequencies below 1 kHz, the turbulent boundary layer
trailing edge noise dominates with a peak value of 96dBA. The trailing edge blunt-
ness noise tonal peak computed from the original BPM model was found to be 89
dBA. The peak trailing edge bluntness noise level for modified BPM by [9] was
found to be 78 dBA near 8 kHz which agreed well with experiment data. The
present computations for modified BPM showed an increase of 2 dBA for frequency
range of 20 Hz and 6 kHz, but reached almost same values for frequencies,
f > 6 kHz.
In this section we present results for the turbulent boundary layer vortex shed-
ding noise from a 2 MW horizontal axis wind turbine blade using original BPM
model predictions and compare them with OSPL (overall sound power level)
experiment data obtained for GE 1.5sle, Siemens SWT 2.3 MW machines. All the
computations were done in MATLAB 2020b software, for a wind speed of 7 m/s and
10 m/s at blade pitch angle of 3.5o and trailing edge thickness taken 0.1% chord
length. Figure 9 shows the Strouhal number, St”’ computed in terms of displace-
ment thickness, δ*, for wind speeds of 7 m/s and 10 m/s respectively. The maximum
value for St”’ was found to be 2.2 and 4.16 for wind speeds of 7 m/s and 10 m/s at
frequency f  10 kHz, where the turbulent boundary layer trailing edge bluntness
noise produces peak tonal amplitude.
Figure 10(a) and (b) shows the trailing edge bluntness peak from original BPM
model as a broad band hump that agrees well within 5% of experiment validation
data for GE 1.5sle, Siemens 2.3 MW turbines for wind speed of 7 m/s and 10 m/s at

Figure 9.
Illustration of Strouhal number, St ”’ as function of displacement thickness, δ * , at wind speeds of 7 m/s and
10 m/s.

13
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 10.
Validation of the computed BPM-turbulent boundary layer vortex shedding noise (TEB-VS), for a blade length
of 38 m, 2 MW turbine having trailing edge thickness of 0.1%c with OSPL measured data of GE-1.5sle,
Siemens 2.3 MW (Pieter), Siemens 2.3 MW (Pedersen) of blade length 47 m at two different wind speeds of
(a) 7 m/s (b) 10 m/s.

trailing edge thickness of 0.1% local blade chord length. For frequencies below
1 kHz, the turbulent boundary layer trailing edge noise dominates with a peak value
of 96 dB that is obtained using measured data of experiment turbines. The tonal
peak of trailing edge bluntness noise computed from the original BPM model was
found to be 82 dB for wind speed of 7 m/s and 96 dB for wind speed of 10 m/s.
From Figure 11(a) and (b) one can notice the computed turbulent boundary
layer trailing edge bluntness noise level using BPM model shows peaks that shift
closer to frequencies, f  5 kHz and reach an amplitude values of 97 dB and 115 dB
respectively. It must be noted that when the trailing edge thickness or heights are
increased to 0.5% of local blade chord length, a difference of 15 dB was found for
wind speed of 7 m/s while a difference of 10 dB was obtained for wind speed of
10 m/s. Further, from Figure 12 it is evident that the difference in the sound power
levels between 7 m/s and 10 m/s continued to increase by a maximum value of 15 dB
for frequencies, f < 200 Hz when the trailing edge thicknesses are 0.1% and 0.5% of
local blade chord length respectively. However, for frequencies, f > 200 Hz a noise
reduction of 17 dB was observed when the trailing edge thickness was 0.5% local
chord length.
Figure 13 shows the measured and computed sound power level, L wA for wind
speeds between 4 m/s and 10 m/s. The experiment data for Vestas V82 and GE
1.5sle turbines have source heights of 80 m and blade lengths of 40 m which are
nearly same as present investigated 2 MW turbine. This data is obtained for one of
Vestas V82 and GE 1.5sle turbines from Jericho Rise operating wind farm located in
US state of New York [20]. The results demonstrate that for wind speeds lesser than
7 m/s both experiment noise data for Vestas 82 and GE 1.5sle agree closely with each
other within 1%. However, from 7 m/s to 10 m/s the sound power level remained
constant which implies that there is no influence of wind speeds on sound levels
which contradicts the BPM model predictions as the model is strongly dependent on
Mach number. This suggests that turbines are deliberately controlled above certain
wind speeds in order to regulate power. Further, the model simulated values for the
present case of 2 MW turbine also agree closely with experiment data of both
turbines with a peak difference of 5dBA at wind speed of 6 m/s. This shows that
model can predic the sound levels accurately and reliably be used for the noise
assessment of wind turbines.

14
Trailing Edge Bluntness Noise Characterization for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines [HAWT]…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.99880

Figure 11.
Computed turbulent boundary layer vortex shedding noise (TEB-VS) for a blade length of 38 m, 2 MW
turbine using trailing edge thickness of 0.5%c at two different wind speeds (a) 7 m/s (b) 10 m/s.

Figure 12.
Computed difference, Δ dB, of the turbulent boundary layer vortex shedding noise level (TEB-VS) between
wind speeds 7 m/s and 10 m/s, at trailing edge thicknesses of 0.1%c and 0.5%c.

15
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

Figure 13.
Sound power levels computed for various wind speeds, for present 2 MW turbine, 38 m blade length compared
to experiment data for Vestas V82, GE 1.5sle at same hub heights.

5. Conclusion

A computational analysis of trailing edge bluntness vortex shedding noise for

2 MW horizontal axis turbine was performed for trailing edge thicknesses of 0.1%
and 0.5% local chord using original BPM model. The original BPM results for
trailing edge bluntness noise showed that for a trailing edge thickness of 0.1% and
0.5% chord length the effect on sound power level was found to be 83 dB, 92 dB
and 95 dB and 115 dB at wind speeds of 7 m/s and 10 m/s respectively. At 10 kHz
region turbulent boundary layer vortex shedding noise masks all other self-noise
mechanisms. Finally, the existing overall sound power level (OSPL) experimental
data showed very good agreement with simulated outputs for the trailing edge
bluntness noise at wind speeds 7 m/s 8 m/s and 10 m/s respectively. The original
BPM results for trailing edge bluntness noise showed that for a trailing edge thick-
ness of 0.1% chord the effect on 1/3rd octave overall A weighted sound level was
found as a peak hump with an amplitude of 90 dBA near 10 kHz region and masks
all other self-noise mechanisms. The modified BPM results for trailing edge blunt-
ness noise also showed a sharp peak instead of a hump but the amplitude reduced by
15 dBA at 8 kHz in noise spectra. The new thickness correction function predicted
the peak amplitude of trailing edge bluntness more accurately compared to original
and modified BPM.

Conflict of interest

Authors declare no conflict of interest for the present work.

Nomenclature

M Mach number
h/δ* Trailing edge bluntness ratio
δ* Boundary layer displacement thickness, mm
L Length of span segment, m

16
Trailing Edge Bluntness Noise Characterization for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines [HAWT]…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.99880

re Distance between the source and receiver position, m

G4, G5 Shape functions
θ, ϕ Directivity angles between the source and receiver line
SPL Sound power level, sound pressure level, dB
Dh High frequency directivity
Ψ Trailing edge angle, degree
Ko Empirical constant
r Local radius, m
R Blade radius, m
t/c thickness to chord ratio
LwA A -weighted sound power level
”’
St Strouhal number
HH Hub height, m
D Rotor diameter, m
Stpeak”’ Peak Strouhal number
δ avg* Average boundary layer displacement thickness, mm
Mc Critical Mach number
f Frequency, Hz
U Free stream wind velocity, wind speed, m/s
c Chord length

17
Acoustic Emission - New Perspectives and Applications

References

[1] Bastasch M, van Dam J, Sondergaard B, [9] Wei, Z. J; Shen, W.Z; Sorensen, J.N;
Rogers A. Wind Turbine Noise – An Leloudas, G (2016) Improvement of
Overview. Journal of Canadian Acoustical airfoil trailing edge bluntness noise
Association. 2006;34(2):7-16 model, Advances in mechanical
engineering , 2016, vol 8, p 1-12, DOI:
[2] Geyer T, Sarradj E, Fritzsche C. 10.1177/1687814016629343
Porous Aerofoils: Noise Reduction and
Boundary Layer Effects. International [10] Grosveld FW. Prediction of
Journal of Aeroacoustics. 2010;9(6): Broadband Noise from Horizontal Axis
787-820. DOI: 10.1260/ Wind Turbines. Journal of Propulsion
1475-472X.9.6.787 and Power. 1985;1(4):292-299 ISSN
0748-4658
[3] Tang H, Lei Y, Fu Y. Noise reduction
mechanisms of an airfoil with trailing [11] Howe. M. S Theory of Vortex Sound
edge serrations at low Mach number. Cambridge University Press. 2003, DOI:
MDPI: Applied science; 2019 https://doi. https://doi.org/10.1017/
org/10.3390/app9183784 CBO9780511755491

[4] Kingan, K.M.Aero-Acoustic Noise [12] Doolan C, Moreau DJ,

Produced by an Aerofoil [Doctoral Arcondoulis E, Albarracin C. Trailing
thesis]. Christchurch: University of Edge Noise Production. Prediction and
Canterbury, New Zealand, 2005, p. 448. Control. New Zealand Acoustics. 2012;
Available from: https://ir.canterbury.ac. 25(3):22-29
nz/handle/10092/6596
[13] Blandeau, V.P and Joseph, P.F,
[5] Brooks. T.F and Hodgson. T.H, Validity of Amiet's Model for Propeller
Trailing Edge Noise Prediction from Trailing Edge Noise. AIAA Journal,
Measured Surface Pressures. Journal of 2011, vol. 49, no 5, p. 1057-1066. DOI
Sound and Vibration, vol 78, p 69-117. 10.2514/1.J050765.
1981, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/
S0022-460X(81)80158-7 [14] Dijkstra, P, Rotor Noise and Aero-
Acoustic Optimization of Wind Turbine
[6] Brooks, T.F., Pope, D.S. and Aerofoils [Master Thesis]. Delft: Delft
Marcolini, M.A, Airfoil Self Noise and University of Technology. 131 p. 2015.
Prediction. NASA reference publication
1218, 1989, Available from: https://ntrs. [15] Leloudas, G, Optimization of Wind
nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.g Turbines with Respect to Noise [Master
ov/19890016302.pdf Thesis]. Lyngby: Technical University
of Denmark, p. 66, 2006.
[7] Zhu WJ. Modelling of Noise from
Wind Turbines [Master thesis]. Lyngby: [16] Blake, W.K, Aero-Hydro-Acoustics
Department of Wind Energy, Technical for Ships Volume II, [Technical Report]
University of Denmark; 2004 1984. Available from: https://apps.dtic.
mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a150672.pdf
[8] Moriarty, P. and Migliore, P.(2003)
Semi Empirical Aero-Acoustic Noise [17] Moreau, D.J, Brooks, L. A. and
Prediction Code for Wind Turbines Doolan, C, Flat Plate Self-Noise
[Technical report], 2003, 39 p. Available Reduction at Low to Moderate Reynolds
from:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewd Number with Trailing Edge Serrations.
oc/download?doi=10.1.1.197.1153&rep= In Proceedings of Acoustics. Gold Coast:
rep1&type=pdf Australia. 2011, Available from: https://

18
Trailing Edge Bluntness Noise Characterization for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines [HAWT]…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/ITexLi.99880

pdfs.semanticscholar.org/74fa/0f9f258c
0d5c5a1f846abb244c6d7505b213.pdf

[18] NuMAD software, Version:

NuMADexe_130403_PCWIN64.
Available from: https://energy.sandia.g
ov/energy/renewable-energy/wind-
power/rotor-innovation/numerical-ma
nufacturing-and-design-tool-numad.

[19] Bhargava V, Maddula SP, Samala R.

Prediction of vortex induced
aerodynamic noise from wind turbine
blades. Advances in Military
Technology. 2019;14(p):245-261. DOI:
10.3849/aimt.01295

[20] Appendix 1, Environmental sound

survey and noise impact assessment,
Draft Environmental Impact Assessment,
Jericho Rise Wind Farm LLC. TetraTech
EC Inc, Boston, USA, 2008.

[21] Lowson, M. V., Assessment and

Prediction of Wind Turbine Noise, Flow
Solutions Report 92/19, ETSU W/13/
00284/REP, pp. 1-59, 1992.

[22] Hau E, Langenbrinck J. Palz, W.

Springer-Verlag, Berlin: WEGA Large
wind turbines; 1993. pp. 1-143

[23] Hagg, F., van der Borg., N. J. C.M

Bruggeman, J. C.; et al. Definite Aero-
Geluidonderzoek Twin,” Stork Product
Engineering B.V., SPE 92- 025. 1992.

19