Research Laboratories

Laboratory for NDE & SHM Studies

The laboratory for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) studies was established in September 2006. The facility consists of about 750 square feet of dust-free space, which contains the state-of-the-art equipment in ultrasonic testing and acoustic emission (AE) technology. The laboratory includes:

Acoustic Emission Instrumentation

Physical Acoustics Corporation 4-cahnnel PCI/DSP system with waveform module including a notebook computer and AE-Win software; acoustic emission pico, WD, and S14 AE-transducers.

Ultrasonic Testing Instrumentation

Tektronix AFG3022 arbitrary function generator (2 output channels); Lecroy Waverunner 44Xi 4-channels oscilloscope (with PC incorporated running under Windows XP); commercial broadband OlympusNDT-Panametrics Ultrasonic Transducers; OlympusNDT-Panametrics high power (max 400 Volts) signal generator.

Modal Testing Instrumentation

8-channel, line-powered, ICP® sensor signal conditioner; 1/4 in. pre-polarized condenser microphones, free-field, 4 mV/Pa, 4 to 80k Hz (± 2 dB); Modally Tuned® Impulse Hammer w/force sensor and tips, 0 to 100 lbf, 50 mV/lbf (11.2 mV/N); 086D80 Miniature Instrumented Impulse Hammer w/force tips, 0 to 50 lbf.

Miscellaneous Equipment

National Instrument-PXI 1042Q chassis with arbitrary function generator and multifunction Data Acquisition System; acoustic microphone AT815b; three PC, 2 running under Windows XP and one running under Windows Vista operative systems.