Method of estimating absolute strain of structure reference-free using ultrasonic wave velocity, and system for the same

Abstract

Disclosed are method and system of estimating an absolute strain of a structure under tensile force in a reference-free manner using ultrasonic wave velocity. Ultrasonic vibrations are generated by a vibration exciting element attached to the structure, and first and second ultrasonic vibrations propagating in a tensile force direction and a direction orthogonal to the tensile force direction in the structure are detected using first and second vibration detection elements, respectively. The detected first and second ultrasonic vibration signals are converted into first and second digital signals. Then, a computing unit calculates propagation velocities of the first and second ultrasonic vibrations, and applies them to an equation of relationship between propagation velocities of ultrasonic vibrations and a strain of the structure to obtain an absolute strain of the structure in the x-direction due to the tensile force. The calculated absolute strain can be used to evaluate stability of the structure.

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