Damage detection in the T-welded joint using Rayleigh-like feature guided wave

Steel T-welded joint structures have been largely applied in aerospace and marine infrastructures. The weld length in T-weld joint structures is usually long, and it is difficult to access the weld conditions for damage detection purposes. This is due to the T-welded joint structure possessing a more complex cross-section than the conventional welded plate-like structures. Rather than formed by two plates and joined with a butt weld, the joint regions in the T-welded joint structure are connected to the sides of three plates to form a T-welded joint, and hence cannot be considered as plate-like structures. This makes guided wave modes difficult to be identified and exploited. This paper assesses the feasibility to detect weld defects on a steel T-welded joint structure using the feature guided wave (FGW) technique. FGW technique can provide a fast and long-range inspection for local topographical features, such as welded joints, offering great potential for effective screening of damages. Semi-Analytical Finite Element (SAFE) method is applied to acquire modal solutions in the waveguide. A new algorithm is developed to obtain FGW modes with both high energy concentration and low attenuation from the solutions of SAFE eigenvalue problem. One particular FGW mode with similar mode shape as the Rayleigh surface wave is identified, of which the propagation occurs only in the joint region with small attenuation. This FGW, labelled Rayleigh T-welded wave (RTW), is explored in comprehensive experimental and numerical studies to investigate the propagation and backward scattering characteristics regarding optimal excitation frequency and different sizes of weld defect. The numerical and experimental results are in good agreement. The outcome of the study confirms the capability and robustness of RTW in detecting small weld defects, which allows a long-distance and sensitive screening for the small weld defects at the joint region in the T-welded joint structure.