A system includes: an acoustic exciter; a compliant material applied to the acoustic exciter to configure the acoustic exciter for triggering acoustic excitation of at least part of a substrate; a sensor configured to receive an acoustic response of the acoustic excitation; and circuitry configured to determine at least one characteristic of the substrate using the acoustic response.

A permanently installed monitoring system for corrosion under insulation (PIMSCUI) and a method for performing the monitoring of said system are provided. The objective of the invention by a fiber optic cable permanently mounted between walls of a pipeline and pipeline insulation surrounding the pipeline and placement of acoustic emitters along the length of the pipeline in mechanical contact with the optical fiber. The acoustic emitters send a pulsed acoustic signal towards the pipeline which is received by the optical fiber, the acoustic signal subsequently travels through the pipeline wall, reflecting from the inner diameter of the pipeline before the reflected pulse is received at the optical fiber.

An approach to determining vehicle usage makes use of a sensor that provides a vibration signal associated with the vehicle, and that vibration signal is used to infer usage. Usage can include distance traveled, optionally associated with particular ranges of speed or road type. In a calibration phase, auxiliary measurements, for instance based on GPS signals, are used to determine a relationship between the vibration signal and usage. In a monitoring phase, the determined relationship is used to infer usage from the vibration signal.

A testing device that includes a wear testing device, a sensor array, and a controller. The wear testing device includes a sample rotation element configured to hold and to rotate a sample; and a cutting element holder configured to hold a cutting element and to engage the cutting element with the sample as the sample rotates. The sensor array includes an acoustic emissions (AE) sensor array comprising a plurality of AE sensors, the plurality of AE sensors configured to measure a plurality of acoustic signals generated during engagement between the cutting element and the sample; and a load sensor. The controller is communicably connected to the sensor array and configured to determine a toughness and a wear resistance of the cutting element using the plurality of acoustic signals, the applied load, and a wear state of the cutting element.

Systems and methods are provided for non-destructive inspection of an interior of a vessel filled with a liquid.

Methods and systems for determining a change in condition of a rock bolt. Some methods may comprise, at a first point in time, propagating shear and longitudinal ultrasonic waves along the rock bolt to measure a first time of flight for each of the shear and longitudinal waves, at a second point in time after the first point in time, propagating shear and longitudinal ultrasonic waves along the rock bolt to measure a second time of flight for each of the shear and longitudinal waves, and using the relative changes of the first and second time of flights, determining the change in condition of the rock bolt section.

Various embodiments of a bio-inspired robot operable for detecting crack and corrosion defects in tubular structures are disclosed herein.

Systems and methods for high-speed non-destructive inspection of a half- or full-barrel-shaped workpiece, such as a barrel-shaped section of an aircraft fuselage. Such workpieces can be scanned externally using a mobile (e.g., translating) arch gantry system comprising a translatable arch frame disposed outside the fuselage section, a carriage that can travel along a curved track carried by the arch frame, a radially inward-extending telescopic arm having a proximal end fixedly coupled to the carriage, and an NDI sensor unit coupled to a distal end of the telescoping arm. The stiffeners of the fuselage sections can be scanned using a mobile scanner platform disposed inside the fuselage section, which platform comprises a radially outward-extending telescopic arm rotatably coupled to a mobile (e.g., holonomic or linear motion) platform and an NDI sensor unit coupled to a distal end of the telescoping arm. The scan data is matched with position data acquired using any one of a plurality of tracking systems to enable the display of NDI features/flaws on a three-dimensional representation of the workpiece.

Examples of determining tuberculation in a fluid distribution system are disclosed. In one example implementation according to aspects of the present disclosure, an acoustical wave generator generates an acoustical wave within a fluid path of a fluid distribution system. A first acoustical sensor and a second acoustical sensor sense the acoustical wave. An acoustical signal analysis module determines an amount of tuberculation within the fluid distribution system by analyzing the sensed acoustical wave.

Provided is a member state evaluation method that makes more highly accurate instantaneous understanding of various states of a member to be tested possible without reliance on the shape of the member, the testing environment, or the skill level of the tester. The member state evaluation method is provided with: a state evaluation database construction step for constructing a state evaluation database by determining a plurality of vibration points and measurement points for each analysis model, carrying out vibration at the vibration points, measuring the acoustic signal generated by the vibration at the measurement points, carrying out frequency analysis, and thereby obtaining, as state evaluation data, frequency distribution data acquired for each vibration point and each measurement point that includes the natural frequencies for each of a plurality of modes; an actual measurement state evaluation data acquisition step for acquiring, as actual measurement state evaluation data, frequency distribution data for the member to be tested that includes the natural frequencies of each of the plurality of modes; and a state evaluation step for evaluating the member to be tested by comparing the acquired actual measurement state evaluation data and all the state evaluation data of the state evaluation database.