Monitoring defects in plates using topological acoustic sensing and sideband peak counting

We demonstrate an integrated non-destructive inspection methodology that employs the nonlinear ultrasonics-based sideband peak counting (SPC) technique in conjunction with topological acoustics (TA) sensing to comprehensively characterize the acoustic response of steel plates that contain differing levels of damage. By combining the SPC technique and TA, increased sensitivity to defect/damage detection as well as the ability to spatially resolve the presence of defects was successfully established. Towards this end, using a Rockwell hardness indenter, steel plates were subject to one, three and five centrally located indentations respectively. The acoustic response of the plate as a function of number of indentations was examined at a frequency range between 50 kHz and 800 kHz, from which the change in a global geometric phase was evaluated. Here, geometric phase is a measure of the topological acoustic field response to the spatial locations of the indentations within the steel plates. The global geometric phase unambiguously showed an increase with increasing number of indentations. In addition, spatial variations in a ‘local’ geometric phase as well as spatial variations in the SPC-index (SPC-I) were also determined. Spatial variations in both the local geometric phase as well as the SPC-I were particularly significant across the indentations for frequencies below 300 kHz, and by combining the respective spatial variations in the SPC-I and geometric phase, the locations of the indentations were accurately identified. The developed SPC-TA nondestructive method represents a promising technique for detecting and evaluating defects in structural materials.