Ultrasonic Monitoring of Overhead Power Lines and Stay Cables

Guided wave-based laboratory experiment on twisted multi-wire cable

In this project, guided ultrasonic waves were induced in multi-wire cables (such as power lines and stay cables) to detect damages. A novel automated signal processing allowed for autonomous structural health monitoring.

  • Determined dispersion of guided waves in wires of various shapes (e.g. z-shaped): wave propagation velocities have to be known for a time-of-flight analysis
  • Optimized wave generation: used feed-forward and iterative learning controller to optimize the generated ultrasonic wave pulse
  • Developed models to represent coupling of individual wires in the multi-wire cables
  • Developed algorithm for detection, localization and characterization of cracks in the interior of multi-wire cables
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Christoph Schaal
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

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