Search

Zero Group Velocity (ZGV) modes are peculiar guided waves that can exist in elastic plates or cylinders, and have proved to be very sensitive tools in characterizing materials or thickness variations with sub-percent accuracy at space resolutions of about the plate thickness. In this article we show theoretically and experimentally how such a mode can be generated as the sum-frequency interaction of two high amplitude primary waves, and then serve as a local probe of material non-linearity. The solutions to the phase matching condition, i.e. condition for a constructive non-linear effect, are obtained numerically in the mark of classical, quadratic non-linearity. The coupling coefficients that measure the transfer rate of energy as a function of time from primary to secondary modes are derived. Experiments are conducted on an aluminum plate using piezo-electric transducers and a laser interferometer, and explore the interaction for incident symmetric and anti-symmetric fundamental Lamb modes. In an experiment operated without voltage amplifier we demonstrate that the resonant nature of these ZGV modes can be leveraged to accumulate energy from long excitations and produce detectable effects at extraordinarily low input power even in such weakly non-linear material.

In real structures, the proportional damping assumption is never strictly verified. Indexes of non-proportionality are then necessary to determine if this assumption leading to real modes still remains valid. If not, complex modes will appear and moreover, if their corresponding natural frequencies are close, their imaginary part can become large. In this paper, a new non-proportionality index, quantifying the “complexity” of mode shapes, is presented, derived from the notion of optimal complex modes introduced by Adhikari. This new index is designed for experimental results, for which the system’s parameters are not known, and proven to be equal to the previous one up to the first order on damping. Modal identification based on wavelet analysis is considered promising in this study for processing free responses of non-proportionally damped systems, integrated in noise, to directly obtain complex modes. A procedure for choosing an appropriate quality factor for the time-frequency resolution, necessary to get correct identification results in the case of free responses combined with responses to ambient excitation and/or to additive noise, is detailed. The proposed identification technique based on Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) is finally applied on different transient responses of a masonry wall specimen during an experimental campaign comprising simultaneous vibrations and shear-compression tests. The results of the CWT method for modal identification are compared with those obtained by a classical modal analysis technique, called Least Squares Complex Frequency method, by means of the Modal Assurance Criterion and the proposed non-proportionality index.

Background and AimsExtracellular ATP governs a range of plant functions, including cell viability, adaptation and cross-kingdom interactions. Key functions of extracellular ATP in leaves and roots may involve an increase in cytosolic free calcium as a second messenger (‘calcium signature’). The main aim here was to determine to what extent leaf and root calcium responses require the DORN1/P2K1 extracellular ATP receptor in Arabidopsis thaliana. The second aim was to test whether extracellular ATP can generate a calcium wave in the root.MethodsLeaf and root responses to extracellular ATP were reviewed for their possible links to calcium signalling and DORN1/P2K1. Leaves and roots of wild type and dorn1 plants were tested for cytosolic calcium increase in response to ATP, using aequorin. The spatial abundance of DORN1/P2K1 in the root was estimated using green fluorescent protein. Wild type roots expressing GCaMP3 were used to determine the spatial variation of cytosolic calcium increase in response to extracellular ATP.Key ResultsLeaf and root ATP-induced calcium signatures differed markedly. The leaf signature was only partially dependent on DORN1/P2K1, while the root signature was fully dependent. The distribution of DORN1/P2K1 in the root supports a key role in the generation of the apical calcium signature. Root apical and sub-apical calcium signatures may operate independently of each other but an apical calcium increase can drive a sub-apical increase, consistent with a calcium wave.ConclusionDORN1 could underpin several calcium-related responses but it may not be the only receptor for extracellular ATP in Arabidopsis. The root has the capacity for a calcium wave, triggered by extracellular ATP at the apex.

This article deals with the dynamic response of laterally unbounded, horizontally layered plates subjected to dynamic sources applied at arbitrary locations, which is ultimately a classical problem. This response is most often obtained via a modal superposition in terms of the complex Lamb modes by casting the equations in the frequency–space domain, followed by a Fourier inversion into the space–time domain. Then again, a much less often used alternative method relies on formulating the problem directly in the time domain in terms of a modal superposition in the wavenumber domain, which is followed by a Fourier inversion into the space–domain, as considered in further detail herein. This alternative can offer powerful advantages in some cases, such as dealing easily with anisotropy, or with slowly propagating waves even in the absence of damping. At the same time, however, it is beset by difficulties associated with the Fourier inversion into the space–domain. As a matter of fact, during forcing, the truncation of the modal series and of the numerical integrals is hindered by poorly convergent behaviors. Here we overcome both of these difficulties by considering the asymptotic, static behavior of the integrands. We find that by introducing a regularizing term, the response can be effectively separated into near and far fields, despite the fact that these frequency-domain concepts are alien to a wavenumber–time formulation. The so-defined far field is free of sharp variations and can then be computed in a numerical grid that is optimized regarding the propagating wavelengths, which only depend on the time-spectral content of the excitation and not on its space-spectrum. Finally, we also propose a hybrid way to compute the remaining near field by combining with a non-modal formulation, expressed in the wavenumber–Laplace domain.

The objective of this paper is twofold: first, to introduce an innovative technique for extracting and exploiting the Electromagnetic (EM) waveguide dispersion of civil engineering materials by means of GPR; and second, to monitor the water ingress front during the absorption process for various concrete mixes. This technique is based on a new inversion procedure that applies the Electromagnetic Waveguide Model (WGM) to invert phase velocity dispersion curves in their modal form. A Parallel homogenization model, derived from the Lichtenecker-Rother equation, has been employed to extend the waveguide from a one-layer to a two-layer medium. The WGM outputs are then used to estimate the geometric parameters of the propagation medium and offer a primary application to water transfer monitoring in concrete through capillarity effects. The initial WGM validation is carried out on FDTD-simulated propagation signals, while the second validation relies on GPR data acquired from homogeneous materials. To achieve the second objective, a broad-based experimental study is conducted for the purpose of correlating electromagnetic waveguide dispersion parameters with both the geometric and hydric characteristics of various concrete mixes. Results obtained using the two-layer WGM serve to monitor the water ingress front during an absorption process. These results are then compared to the moisture gradients generated on cores using gammadensimetry, which is set as the reference. This procedure yields a number of trends, which in turn provide key information on the conditioning state of the studied concretes.

A nonlinear acoustic method to assess the damage level of a complex medium is discussed herein. Thanks to the highly nonlinear elastic signatures of cracks or, more generally, internal solid contacts, this method is able to distinguish between contributions from linear wave scattering by a heterogeneity and contributions from nonlinear scattering by a crack or unbounded interface. The coda wave interferometry (CWI) technique is applied to reverberated and scattered waves in glass plate samples featuring various levels of damage. The ultrasonic coda signals are recorded in both the absence and presence of an independent and lower-frequency elastic “pump” wave, before being analyzed by CWI. The monitored CWI parameters quantifying changes in these coda signals, which therefore quantify the nonlinear wave-mixing effects between the coda and pump waves, are found to be dependent on the damage level in the sample. A parametric study is also performed to analyze the influence of sensor positions and average temperature on the method’s output. The reported results could be applied to the non-destructive testing and evaluation of complex-shape materials and multiple scattering samples, for which conventional ultrasonic methods show strong limitations.

International audience; For vibro-acoustic applications, a turbulent wall pressure fluctuations model was derived. The model is based on the resolution of the Poisson equation. The pressure is characterized in time and space through its spectrum in the pulsation wave-number domain. The developed model follows trends commonly observed using Corcos model in a large pulsation range but also shows new behaviours for low and high pulsations. The radiated noise due to turbulent wall pressure fluctuations is then computed in accordance with the form of the turbulent wall pressure spectrum. A specific computational methodology is proposed to perform the calculation without introducing limiting hypothesis on the radiated impedance.

A numerical method is proposed to compute high-frequency low-leakage modes in structural waveguides surrounded by infinite solid media. In order to model arbitrary shape structures, a waveguide formulation is used, which consists of applying to the elastodynamic equilibrium equations a space Fourier transform along the waveguide axis and then a discretization method to the cross-section coordinates. However several numerical issues must be faced related to the unbounded nature of the cross-section, the number of degrees of freedom required to achieve an acceptable error in the high-frequency regime as well as the number of modes to compute. In this paper, these issues are circumvented by applying perfectly matched layers (PML) along the cross-section directions, a high-order spectral element method for the discretization of the cross-section, and an eigensolver shift suited for the computation of low-leakage modes. First, computations are performed for an embedded cylindrical bar, for which literature results are available. The proposed PML waveguide formulation yields good agreement with literature results, even in the case of weak impedance contrast. Its performance with high-order spectral elements is assessed in terms of convergence and accuracy and compared to traditional low-order finite elements. Then, computations are performed for an embedded square bar. Dispersion curves exhibit strong similarities with cylinders. These results show that the properties of low-leakage modes observed in cylindrical bars can also occur in other types of geometry.

International audience; Non-contact detection and estimation of vital signs such as respiratory and cardiac frequencies is a powerful tool for surveillance applications. In particular, the continuous wave bio-radar has been widely investigated to determine the physiological parameters in a non-contact manner. Since the RF-reflected signal from the human body is corrupted by noise and random body movements, traditional Fourier analysis fails to detect the heart and breathing frequencies. In this effort, cyclostationary analysis has been used to improve the radar performance for non-invasive measurement of respiratory rate and heart rate. However, the preliminary works focus only on one frequency and do not include the impact of attenuation and random movement of the body in the analysis. Hence in this paper, we evaluate the impact of distance and noise on the cyclic features of the reflected signal. Furthermore, we explore the assessment of second order cyclostationary signal processing performance by developing the cyclic mean, the conjugate cyclic autocorrelation and the cyclic cumulant. In addition, the analysis is carried out using a reduced number of samples to reduce the response time. Implementation of the cyclostationary technique using a bi-static radar configuration at 2.5 GHz is shown as an example to demonstrate the proposed approach.

5GWF 2018, IEEE 5G World Forum, Santa Clara, ETATS-UNIS, 09-/07/2018 - 11/07/2018; Universal Filtered MultiCarrier(UFMC) is a spectrally efficient waveform that applies per-subband filtering to reduce the Out Of Band emissions. Thanks to the orthogonality in complex plane, UFMC retains the simplicity of conventional OFDM while addressing its drawbacks. One of the main advantages of UFMC is its compatibility with the existing OFDM techniques. For instance channel estimation can be built based on OFDM one. Hence in this paper, we address the pilot aided channel estimation. To this end we propose to use the scattered pilot arrangement for UFMC under a fast varying channel. The results reveal that despite the difference in channel gain between subcarriers in UFMC, scattered pilot arrangement has good performance with the minimum number of pilots compared to block and comb type arrangement.

Identification of different wave types in a seismogram is an important step for the understanding of wave propagation phenomena. Because in most seismograms, different types of waves with different frequencies may appear simultaneously, separation of waves is more effectively achieved when a time–frequency analysis is performed. In this work, we propose a new time–frequency analysis procedure to identify and extract Rayleigh and Love waves from three‐component seismograms. Exploiting the advantage of the absolute phase preservation by the Stockwell transform, we construct time–frequency filters to extract waves based on the normalized inner product (NIP). Because the NIP is the time–frequency counterpart of the correlation, Rayleigh and Love waves can be identified depending on the NIP between the Stockwell transforms of the horizontal and vertical displacement components. The novelty and advantage of the proposed procedure is that it does not require specifying a priori the direction of propagation of the surface waves, but instead such direction is determined. Furthermore, it is shown that the NIP is a more stable parameter in the time–frequency domain when compared to the instantaneous reciprocal ellipticity, and thus it avoids smoothing (and with it, altering) the data. The procedure has been successfully tested with real signals, specifically to extract Rayleigh and Love waves from seismograms of one aftershock of the 1999 Chi‐Chi earthquake. With the proposed procedure, we found different directions of propagation for retrograde and prograde Rayleigh waves, which might suggest that they are generated by different mechanisms.

This paper provides a modal solution for the three-dimensional modeling of Lamb and SH waves excited by sources of arbitrary shape. This solution is applicable to elastic and viscoelastic plates, in the far-field as well as in the near-field regions, under the assumption of transverse isotropy about the thickness direction. The theoretical developments are conducted based on a semi-analytical finite element formulation. This formulation yields a one-dimensional modal problem, fast from a computational point of view, and allows to readily handle heterogeneous materials having depth-varying properties (multilayered, piecewise or continuously varying, functionally graded). The modal solution is shown to be expressed in terms of Hankel functions of multiple order thanks to a proper application of inverse transforms and Cauchy residue calculus. The link between the proposed formulation and a fully analytical approach is discussed. The solution of this paper is then successfully compared to literature results and degenerates to the point source case. Formulas are presented to calculate point source excitabilities from lines sources. These formulas remain valid for non-propagating modes, viscoelastic materials and account for the near-field contribution. Finally, the example of a viscoelastic bilayer waveguide excited by a rectangular source is considered in order to check the theoretical results.

44th Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, PROVO, ETATS-UNIS, 16-/07/2017 - 21/07/2017; Civil engineering is constantly demanding new methods for evaluation and non-destructive testing (NDT), particularly to prevent and monitor serious damage to concrete structures. Tn this work, experimental results are presented on the detection and characterization of cracks using nonlinear modulation of coda waves interferometry (NCWT) [1]. This method consists in mixing high-amplitude low-frequency acoustic waves with multi-scattered probe waves (coda) and analyzing their effects by interferometry. Unlike the classic method of coda analysis (CWT), the NCWT does not require the recording of a coda as a reference before damage to the structure. Tn the framework of the PTA-ENDE project, a 1/3 model of a preconstrained concrete containment (EDF VeRCoRs mock-up) is placed under pressure to study the leakage of the structure. During this evaluation protocol, specific areas are monitored by the NCWT (during 5 days, which correspond to the protocol of nuclear power plant pressurization under maintenance test). The acoustic nonlinear response due to the high amplitude of the acoustic modulation gives pertinent information about the elastic and dissipative nonlinearities of the concrete. Tts effective level is evaluated by two nonlinear observables extracted from the interferometry. The increase of nonlinearities is in agreement with the creation of a crack with a network of microcracks located at its base; however, a change in the dynamics of the evolution of the nonlinearities may indicate the opening of a through crack. Tn addition, as during the experimental campaign, reference codas have been recorded. We used CWT to follow the stress evolution and the gas leaks ratio of the structure. Both CWT and NCWT results are presented in this paper.

Acoustics'2017, BOSTON, ETATS-UNIS, 25-/06/2017 - 29/06/2017; In room acoustics, starting from the sound particle concept, it is now well established that the reverberant field can be modeled from a diffusion equation function of the acoustic density and a gradient equation function of the acoustic intensity. The main works on the development of an acoustic diffusion model have highlighted the major role of a coefficient of the model, the so-called diffusion coefficient. Indeed, the main phenomena influencing the reverberant sound field can be modeled by proposing an appropriate expression of this diffusion coefficient. The work presented here deals with the modeling of inhomogeneous reverberant sound fields induced by geometric disproportions, and investigates, in particular, the case of long rooms. Previously, the ability of the acoustic diffusion to model adequately the spatial variations of the sound field along the room has been demonstrated by considering a diffusion coefficient that is spatially dependent. We propose here to extend this work by determining an empirical law of the diffusion coefficient, depending on both the scattering and absorption coefficients of the walls of the room. The approach proposed here is statistical and is based on the least squares method. Several linear models are proposed, for which a rigorous statistical analysis makes it possible to assess their relevance.

Elastic guided waves are of interest for the non-destructive evaluation of cables. Such structures are usually helical, multiwired and highly prestressed, which greatly complicates the understanding of wave propagation from a theoretical point of view. A remarkable feature is the occurrence of a missing frequency band in experimental time–frequency diagrams, sometimes referred to as notch frequency in the literature. The central frequency of this band increases under tensile loads. Recently, a numerical model has been proposed to compute the dispersion curves of prestressed helical seven-wire waveguides. Results have shown that the notch frequency indeed corresponds to a curve veering phenomenon between two longitudinal-like modes and that the increase of the notch under tensile loads is mainly due to interwire contact mechanisms. The main goal of this paper is to highlight the origin of this curve veering phenomenon, which is still unexplained up to the author׳s knowledge. This paper also provides further results which allow us to clarify the accuracy of numerical solutions as well as the influence of contact assumptions. First, the static part of the model, necessary to compute the prestress state including contact effects, is checked from reference analytical solutions. Owing to the importance of contact, the accuracy of results is discussed both in statics and in dynamics. The influence of slip contact conditions is outlined. Then, some numerical tests are conducted by varying the Poisson coefficient and the helix lay angle. These tests allows us to find out that the radial displacement constraint imposed on peripheral wires by the central one in the contact regions constitutes the main source of curve veering. More precisely, it is shown that a similar curve veering does occur for an uncoupled single peripheral wire when constrained by a radially blocked motion localized in its contact zone. Indeed, such a localized boundary condition completely breaks the circular symmetry of the wire cross-section, yielding coupling between longitudinal, flexural and torsional motion together with curve veering phenomena.

Elastic guided waves are of interest for the non-destructive evaluation of cables. Cables are most often multi-wire structures, and understanding wave propagation requires numerical models accounting for the helical geometry of individual wires, the interwire contact mechanisms and the effects of prestress. In this paper, a modal approach based on a so-called semi-analytical finite element method and taking advantage of a biorthogonality relation is proposed in order to calculate the forced response under excitation of a cable, multi-wired, twisted, and prestressed. The main goal of this paper is to investigate how the energy transfers from a given wire, directly excited, to the other wires in order to identify some localization of energy inside the active wire as the waves propagate along the waveguide. The power flow of the excited field is theoretically derived and an energy transfer parameter is proposed to evaluate the level of energy localization inside a given wire. Numerical results obtained for different polarizations of excitation, central and peripheral, highlight how the energy may localize, spread, or strongly change in the cross-section as waves travel along the axis. In particular, a compressional mode localized inside the central wire is found, with little dispersion and significant excitability.

The aim of this paper is to study the ultrasonic response to a transient source that radiates ultrasonic waves in a 3D embedded multilayered anisotropic and dissipative plate. The source can be inside the plate or outside, in a fluid loading the plate for example. In the context of Non-Destructive Testing applied to composite materials, our goal is to create a robust algorithm to calculate ultrasonic field, irrespective of the source and receiver positions. The principle of the method described in this paper is well-established. This method is based on time analysis using the Laplace transform. In the present work, it has been customized for computing ultrasonic source interactions with multilayered dissipative anisotropic plates. The fields are transformed in the 2D Fourier wave-vector domain for the space variables related to the plate surface, and they are expressed in the partial-wave basis. Surprisingly, this method has been very little used in the ultrasonic community, while it is a useful tool which complements the much used technique based on generalized Lamb wave decomposition. By avoiding mode analysis -- which can be problematic in some cases -- exact numerical calculations (i.e., approximations by truncating infinite series that may be poorly convergent are not needed) can be made in a relatively short time for immersed plates and viscoelastic layers. Even for 3D cases, numerical costs are relatively low. Special attention is given to separate up- and down-going waves, which is a simple matter when using the Laplace transform. Numerical results show the effectiveness of this method. Three examples are presented here to investigate the quality of the model and the robustness of the algorithm: first, a comparison of experiment and simulation for a monolayer carbon-epoxy plate, where the diffracted field is due to a source located on the first free surface of the sample, for both dissipative and non-dissipative cases; second, the basic configuration of an aluminum plate immersed in water has been chosen to study wave propagation in ZGV (Zero Group Velocity) conditions; finally, a 2D plate consisting of 8 stacked carbon-epoxy layers immersed in water is treated, with a source located inside the plate, distributed in depth and extending over four layers. This work is jointly funded by ``Region Aquitaine'' and ``CEA-List'', France.

hal-01150611; International audience; Wind waves are responsible for some of the spatio-temporal gradients observed in the biotic and abiotic variables in large shallow lakes. However, their effects on the phytoplankton community composition are still largely unexplored especially in freshwater systems such as lakes. In this paper, using field observations and mesocosm bioassay experiments, we investigated the impact of turbulence generated by wind waves on the phytoplankton community composition (especially on harmful cyanobacteria) in Lake Taihu, a large, shallow eutrophic lake in China. The composition of the phytoplankton community varied with the intensity of wind waves in the different areas of the lake. During summer, when wind waves were strong in the central lake, diatoms and green algae seemed to dominate while harmful cyanobacteria dominated in the weakly influenced Meiliang Bay. Turbulence bioassays also showed that diatoms and green algae were favoured by turbulent mixing. The critical time for the shift of the phytoplankton community composition was approximately 10 days under turbulent conditions. However, short-term (6 days) turbulence is rather beneficial for the dominance of cyanobacteria. This study suggests that the duration of wind events and their associated hydrodynamics are key factors to understanding the temporal and spatial changes of phytoplankton communities.

Helical multi-wire cables are widely used in bridges (suspended or prestressed) and anchored retaining wall constructions. Such structures can be damaged or degraded due to corrosion and fatigue. Non destructive evaluation techniques are required to reveal defects inside cable structures. Among these numerous techniques, elastic guided waves are of potential interest owing to their ability to propagate over long distances. However in civil engineering, cables are often buried or grouted in large solid media that can be considered as unbounded. Waves can strongly attenuate along the guide axis due to the energy leakage into the surrounding medium, which reduces the propagating distance. This energy leakage can be enhanced in helical structures, which further complicates their inspection. Searching modes with low attenuation becomes necessary. The goal of this work is to propose a numerical approach to compute modes in embedded helical structures, combining the so-called semi analytical finite element method and a radial perfectly matched layer technique. Two types of radial perfectly matched layer, centered and off-centered, are considered. Both are implemented in a twisting coordinate system which preserves translational invariance. The centered configuration is validated thanks to the twisted cylinder test case. The effect of twist on the eigenspectrum is briefly discussed. Then, an embedded helical wire of circular cross-section is considered. The off-centered configuration is shown to give the same results as the centered one. The effect of twist on modal attenuation is investigated. Finally, computations are performed for a seven-wire strand embedded into concrete, widely used in civil engineering cables.

International audience; Elastic guided waves are of interest for inspecting structures due to their ability to propagate over long distances. In numerous applications, the guiding structure is surrounded by a solid matrix that can be considered as unbounded in the transverse directions. The physics of waves in such an open waveguide significantly differs from a closed waveguide, i.e. for a bounded cross-section. Except for trapped modes, part of the energy is radiated in the surrounding medium, yielding attenuated modes along the axis called leaky modes. These leaky modes have often been considered in non destructive testing applications, which require waves of low attenuation in order to maximize the inspection distance. The main difficulty with numerical modeling of open waveguides lies in the unbounded nature of the geometry in the transverse direction. This difficulty is particularly severe due to the unusual behavior of leaky modes: while attenuating along the axis, such modes exponentially grow along the transverse direction. A simple numerical procedure consists in using absorbing layers of artificially growing viscoelasticity, but large layers may be required. The goal of this paper is to explore another approach for the computation of trapped and leaky modes in open waveguides. The approach combines the so-called semi-analytical finite element method and a perfectly matched layer technique. Such an approach has already been successfully applied in scalar acoustics and electromagnetism. It is extended here to open elastic waveguides, which raises specific difficulties. In this paper, two-dimensional stratified waveguides are considered. As it reveals a rich structure, the numerical eigenvalue spectrum is analyzed in a first step. This allows to clarify the spectral objects calculated with the method, including radiation modes, and their dependency on the perfectly matched layer parameters. In a second step, numerical dispersion curves of trapped and leaky modes are compared to analytical results.

This paper presents an ultrasonic method, based on the nonlinear acoustic mixing of coda waves with lower-frequency swept pump waves, for providing an efficient global detection of small cracks in cementitious materials. By simultaneously comparing, forboth uncracked and cracked mortars, the ultrasonic velocity variations and decorrelation coefficients between the unperturbed and perturbed signals with pump amplitude, this method makes it possible to accurately detect cracks with widths of around 20 μm in correlation with velocity variations of approximately 0.01%. The potential influence of certain material parameters such as microscopic damage is also discussed.

We study, both experimentally and numerically, the Anderson localization phenomenon in torsional waves of a disordered elastic rod, which consists of a cylinder with randomly spaced notches. We find that the normal-mode wave amplitudes are exponentially localized as occurs in disordered solids. The localization length, measured using these wave amplitudes, decreases as a function of frequency. The normal-mode spectrum is also measured as well as computed, so its level statistics can be analyzed. From the spectrum, the nearest-neighbor spacing distribution can be obtained. This distribution can be described by a phenomenological expression that depends on a parameter α, related to the level repulsion, which is also a function of the frequency. Therefore, the localization length can be expressed in terms of the parameter α. There exists a range in which the localization length grows linearly with α. However, at low values of this parameter the linear dependence does not hold.

Infrastructure is subject to continuous ageing. This has given life cycle management of infrastructure an increasingly important role. Reliable inspection and monitoring tools are therefore in demand. A reliable prognosis of the condition and behaviour of a structure is an important basis for an effective service life management. Furthermore, traffic loads and loads due to changing environmental conditions increased during the last years and will increase in the future. Repair and maintenance have to be performed, which requires reliable concepts and measurement of data, which is preferably gained through non-destructive methods. Furthermore, infrastructural constructions often have to be reconditioned when they are in use i. e. they cannot be torn down and rebuilt. Therefore, reliable diagnosis of the state of ‘hot spots’ is required. Within the frame of the Franco-German project FilameNDT steel wires of external tendon ducts and prestressing strands, prestressing rods, and stay cables are investigated. With regards to this field of application, practical relevance can only be gained when easily applicable and long ranging methods are used. The evaluation of extended structural elements using non-contact movable systems {bulk wave and guided wave application [Piezo, electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMAT)], magnetic flux leakage (MFL), Micromagnetic methods} and those of localized elements based on elastic guided wave propagation—are complementary since they can be applied according to the various accessibility conditions of the tested objects. Inspection and monitoring scenarios were developed, hot spots were identified, and lab tests as well as field tests were carried out. A real cable stayed bridge in the Saarland region is available for monitoring within the frame of the project. Results from local investigations using guided waves and from monitoring field tests with micromagnetic sensors are presented and discussed. The results show the scenarios where the non-destructive methods are applicable and how the results can be used for structural health monitoring and maintenance concepts.

International audience; In the analysis of elastic waveguides, the excitability of a given mode is an important featuredefined by the displacement-force ratio. Useful analytical expressions have been provided in the literature for modes with real wavenumbers (propagating modes in lossless waveguides). The central result of this paper consists in deriving a generalized expression for the modal excitability valid for modes with complex wavenumbers (lossy waveguides or non-propagating modes). The analysis starts from a semi-analytical finite element method and avoids solving the left eigenproblem. Analytical expressions of modal excitability are then deduced. It is shown that the fundamental orthogonality property to be used indeed corresponds to a form of Auld's real orthogonality relation, involving both positive and negative-going modes. Finally, some results obtained from the generalized excitability are compared to the approximate lossless expression.

A three dimensional (3D) hybrid method combining the classical finite element (FE) method with the semi-analytical finite element (SAFE) technique is developed. This hybrid method is employed to study the interaction of guided waves with non-axisymmetric damages in cylinders. The near field surrounding the damage is analysed with the 3D FE method. The solution is expanded into sums of guided modes on both inlet and outlet cross-sections. Such eigenmode expansions enable separation into ingoing and outgoing waves, i.e., incident, reflected and transmitted waves. Using the SAFE method, elastic guided modes are then computed at the aforementioned cross-sections thus reducing the analysis to two dimensions (2D). The amplitudes of the incident modes are imposed, whereas those of the scattered modes are determined by solving the global system of the 3D hybrid FE-SAFE model. In this paper, a formula is proposed for the calculation of eigenforces and modal power flows from eigendisplacements and SAFE matrices. This has the advantage of simplifying the post-process of load eigenvectors in hybrid FE-SAFE methods. Results obtained for a vertical free-end cylinder are in good agreement with those published in the literature. Moreover, first results of the interaction of the fundamental compressional, flexural and torsional Pochhammer–Chree modes with non-axisymmetric vertical cracks are obtained and discussed. Then, the interactions of the fundamental compressional mode with oblique free-ends and cracks are briefly addressed. The power balance is shown to be satisfied with a good accuracy.

For the analysis of seismic wave amplification, modal methods are interesting tools to study the modal properties of geological structures. Modal approaches mainly lead to information on such parameters as fundamental frequencies and eigenmodes of alluvial basins. For a specific alluvial deposit in Nice (France), a simplified modal approach involving the Rayleigh method is considered. This approach assumes a set of admissible shape functions for the eigenmodes and allows a fast estimation of the fundamental frequency of the basin. The agreement between modal numerical results and experimental ones is satisfactory. The simplified modal method then appears as an efficient mean for the global vibratory characterization of geological structures towards resonance. Caracterisation vibratoire simplifiee de remplissages sedimentaires Resume. L'analyse de l'amplification du mouvement sismique peut etre realisee en etudiant les proprietes vibratoires des structures geologiques. Les approches modales peuvent donner des informations telles que les frequences propres et les modes propres de bassins sedimentaires. Pour etudier la resonance d'un bassin sedimentaire du centre de Nice, une approche modale simplifiee utilisant la methode de Rayleigh est proposee. Cette approche suppose la connaissance d'une famille de fonctions modales admissibles et permet une determination rapide de la frequence fondamentale du bassin. La comparaison avec d'autres resultats numeriques (obtenus par equations integrales de frontiere) et des mesures realisees sur site est tres favorable. Cette methode conduit donc aisement et rapidement a une caracterisation vibratoire globale de structures geologiques vis-a-vis de la resonance.