Feasibility study of a non-contact, non-destructive testing method to assess the structural integrity of synthetic mooring ropes

Governments are looking more and more to invest in renewable energy sources due to the energy transition that is currently taking place. One of the many renewable energy sources is wind energy which is increasingly positioned at sea. Wind turbines in deep parts of the ocean can be placed on floating structures which are often moored to the sea...

Developing a level-1B qualifiable CNN for in-situ ultrasonic damage classification of aerospace composite structures: An in-depth evaluation on the end-to-end process of developing a data-driven tool

This paper examines the end-to-end development process for a Convolution Neural Network (CNN) based damage classification tool for ultrasonic inspection of aerospace-grade composite structures. The recent advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) has piqued the interest of the aerospace industry since it has the potential...

A Review on Non-destructive Evaluation of Civil Structures Using Magnetic Sensors

The growing demand towards life cycle sustainability has created a tremendous interest in non-destructive evaluation (NDE) to minimize manufacturing defects and waste, and to improve maintenance and extend service life. Applications of Magnetic Sensors (MSs) in NDE of civil engineering structures have become of great interest in recent years...

In-situ Non-destructive Stiffness Assessment of FRC Materials

Fiber Reinforced Composite (FRC) materials are gaining great popularity in marine structures because of their excellent strength-to-weight ratio, low density, and provided freedom in the design process. However, the use of FRC materials comes along with relatively large uncertainties in material properties and structural integrity after...

Symbiotic System of Systems Design for Safe and Resilient Autonomous Robotics in Offshore Wind Farms

To reduce Operation and Maintenance (OM) expenditure on offshore wind farms, wherein 80% of the cost relates to deploying personnel, the offshore wind sector looks to advances in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (RAI) for solutions. Barriers to residential Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) autonomy as a service, include operational...

Detection and Evaluation of Pre-Preg Gaps and Overlaps in Glare Laminates

Gaps and overlaps between pre-preg plies represent common flaws in composite materials that can be introduced easily in an automated fibre placement manufacturing process and are potentially detrimental for the mechanical performances of the final laminates. Whereas gaps and overlaps have been addressed for full composite material, the topic...

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Pre-Preg Gaps for the Automated Production of Fiber Metal Laminates

Gaps in pre-preg plies, in a case when adjacent plies do not align perfectly, may represent a significant issue in an automated fibre placement manufacturing process and can be detrimental to the properties of the final laminates. In order to tackle the consequences of gaps in the composite material, a comprehensive research has to be performed....

Computational Time Reversal for NDT Applications Using Experimental Data

A model-based non destructive testing (NDT) method is proposed for damage identification in elastic structures, incorporating computational time reversal (TR) analysis. Identification is performed by advancing elastic wave signals, measured at discrete sensor locations, backward in time. In contrast to a previous study, which was purely...

The use of new data sources in bridge maintenance decision-making: On the effect of using new data sources during decision making moments of bridge maintenance experts through a serious game based experiment

The current practice of bridge maintenance decision-making is informed by subjective visual inspection data with a long time interval between measurements, which creates inefficiencies and possible loss of value in the maintenance entity’s capabilities. New opportunities from technology-related innovations for measurement devices are available...

Online non-destructive evaluation in automated fibre placement

The strict quality requirements for aerospace composite structures give rise to costly quality control procedures. In automated fibre placement (AFP) these procedures rely heavily on manualwork and inspection. This research aims at performing preventative non-destructive evaluation of composite laminate quality based on an online geometric...

In-Situ Characterization of Isotropic and Transversely Isotropic Elastic Properties Using Ultrasonic Wave Velocities

In this paper, a one-sided, in situ method based on the time of flight measurement of ultrasonic waves was described. The primary application of this technique was to non-destructively measure the stiffness properties of isotropic and transversely isotropic materials. The method consists of generating and receiving quasi-longitudinal and quasi...

Structural longevity of FPSO Hulls

The key challenge of managing Floating Production Storage and Offloading assets (FPSOs) for offshore hydrocarbon production lies in maximizing the economic value and productivity, while minimizing the Total Cost of Ownership and operational risk. This is a comprehensive task, considering the increasing demands of performance contracting, (down...