Experimental characterization of granite damage using nonlinear ultrasonic techniques

In this paper, a nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technique based on the nonlinear second harmonic wave theory is developed and used to characterize damage of granite samples subjected to compressive loadings. The nonlinear parameter defined in the new NDE technique is measured and compared with two traditional parameters including ultrasonic pulse velocity and dynamic modulus. The nonlinear parameter is found to be much more sensitive to the damage development in granites than traditional parameters. It is shown that the increase of nonlinear parameter is close to an exponential trend with respect to the increased loading level, which also indicates a faster increase rate of the nonlinear parameter corresponding to the internal damage of granite samples. A practical damage index is thus defined based on the exponential increasing trend of the nonlinear parameter. The new damage index based on nonlinear parameter is found to have a positive correlation with the loading level. This observation suggests that the new damage index may become a valuable indicator of loading level (or correspondingly material degradation) of granites in the in situ NDE tests.