Amplitude Dispersion Compensation for Damage Detection Using Ultrasonic Guided Waves

Besides the phase and group velocities, the amplitude of guided wave mode is also frequency dependent. This amplitude dispersion also influences the performance of guided wave methods in nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM). In this paper, the effects of amplitude dispersion to the spectrum and waveform of a propagating wave-packet are investigated. It is shown that the amplitude dispersion results in distortion in the spectrum of guided wave response, and thus influences the waveform of the wave-packet. To remove these effects, an amplitude dispersion compensation method is established on the basis of Vold–Kalman filter and Taylor series expansion. The performance of that method is then investigated by experimental examples. The results show that with the application of the amplitude dispersion compensation, the time reversibility could be preserved, which ensures the applicability of the time reversal method for damage detection. Besides, through amplitude dispersion compensation, the testing resolution of guided waves could be improved, so that the structural features located in the close proximity may be separately identified.