Extraction of guided wave dispersion curve in isotropic and anisotropic materials by Matrix Pencil method.

Guided wave dispersion curves in isotropic and anisotropic materials are extracted automatically from measured data by Matrix Pencil (MP) method investigating through k-t or x-ω domain with a broadband signal. A piezoelectric wafer emits a broadband excitation, linear chirp signal to generate guided waves in the plate. The propagating waves are measured at discrete locations along the lines for one-dimensional laser Doppler vibrometer (1-D LDV). Measurements are first Fourier transformed into either wavenumber-time k-t domain or space-frequency x-ω domain. MP method is then employed to extract the dispersion curves explicitly associated with different wave modes. In addition, the phase and group velocity are deduced by the relations between wavenumbers and frequencies. In this research, the inspections for dispersion relations on an aluminum plate by MP method from k-t or x-ω domain are demonstrated and compared with two-dimensional Fourier transform (2-D FFT). Other experiments on a thicker aluminum plate for higher modes and a composite plate are analyzed by MP method. Extracted relations of composite plate are confirmed by three-dimensional (3-D) theoretical curves computed numerically. The results explain that the MP method not only shows more accuracy for distinguishing the dispersion curves on isotropic material, but also obtains good agreements with theoretical curves on anisotropic and laminated materials.

Non-contact ultrasonic technique for Lamb wave characterization in composite plates.

A fully non-contact single-sided air-coupled and laser ultrasonic non-destructive system based on the generation and detection of Lamb waves is implemented for the characterization of A0 Lamb wave mode dispersion in a composite plate. An air-coupled transducer (ACT) radiates acoustic pressure on the surface of the composite and generates Lamb waves within the structure. The out-of-plane velocity of the propagating wave is measured using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV). In this study, the non-contact automated system focuses on measuring A0 mode frequency-wavenumber, phase velocity dispersion curves using Snell's law and group velocity dispersion curves using Morlet wavelet transform (MWT) based on time-of-flight along different wave propagation directions. It is theoretically demonstrated that Snell's law represents a direct link between the phase velocity of the generated Lamb wave mode and the coincidence angle of the ACT. Using Snell's law and MWT, the former three dispersion curves of the A0 mode are easily and promptly generated from a set of measurements obtained from a rapid ACT angle scan experiment. In addition, the phase velocity and group velocity polar characteristic wave curves are also computed to analyze experimentally the angular dependency of Lamb wave propagation. In comparison with the results from the theory, it is confirmed that using the ACT/LDV system and implementing simple Snell's law method is highly sensitive and effective in characterizing the dispersion curves of Lamb waves in composite structures as well as its angular dependency.

A rapid, fully non-contact, hybrid system for generating Lamb wave dispersion curves.

A rapid, fully non-contact, hybrid system which encompasses an air-coupled transducer (ACT) and a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) is presented for profiling A0 Lamb wave dispersion of an isotropic aluminum plate. The ACT generates ultrasonic pressure incident upon the surface of the plate. The pressure waves are partially refracted into the plate. The LDV is employed to measure the out-of-plane velocity of the excited Lamb wave mode at some distances where the Lamb waves are formed in the plate. The influence of the ACT angle of incidence on Lamb wave excitation is investigated and Snell's law is used to directly compute Lamb wave dispersion curves including phase and group velocity dispersion curves in aluminum plates from incident angles found to generate optimal A0 Lamb wave mode. The measured curves are compared to results obtained from a two-dimensional (2-D) Fast Fourier transform (FFT), Morlet wavelet transform (MWT) and theoretical predictions. It was concluded that the experimental results obtained using Snell's law concept are well in accordance with the theoretical solutions. The high degree of accuracy in the measured data with the theoretical results proved a high sensitivity of the air-coupled and laser ultrasound in characterizing Lamb wave dispersion in plate-like structures. The proposed non-contact hybrid system can effectively characterize the dispersive relation without knowledge of neither the materials characteristics nor the mathematical model.

Endogenous nitric oxide induces activation of apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 via S-nitrosylation in rat hippocampus during cerebral ischemia-reperfusion.

Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is a general mediator of cell death in response to a variety of stimuli, including reactive oxygen species, tumor necrosis factor α, lipopolysaccharide, endoplasmic reticulum stress, calcium influx and ischemia. Here we reported ASK1 was activated by nitric oxide (NO) through S-nitrosylation during cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. The reagents that abrogate neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) activity such as nNOS inhibitor 7NI and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist MK801 prevented ASK1 activation via decreasing ASK1 S-nitrosylation. In HEK293 cells, over-expressed ASK1 could be S-nitrosylated by both exogenous and endogenous NO and Cys869 was identified as the site of ASK1 S-nitrosylation. S-nitrosylation increased the level of ASK1 phosphorylation at Thr845, which represents ASK1 activation. Our results further confirmed that S-nitrosylation led to the increment of ASK1 dimerization. S-nitrosylation of ASK1 also activated the downstream JNK signaling and JNK-mediated nucleic pathway. The exogenous NO (SNP and GSNO) reversed the effect of endogenous NO by suppressing S-nitrosylation of ASK1 and exerted neuroprotection during ischemia-reperfusion. These results suggest that inhibiting ASK1 S-nitrosylation may be a novel approach for stroke therapy.

Nanoscopic modeling of fracture of 2D graphene systems.

Macroscopic fracture parameters are investigated on 2D graphene systems containing atomic-scale cracks. In the discrete atomistic simulations the interatomic forces are described by the Tersoff-Brenner potential. Two methods to calculate the elastic energy release rates in atomic systems, the global energy method and the local force method, are developed. The values of energy release rates of several graphene systems in symmetric (mode I) and antisymmetric (mode II) small deformation are obtained from atomistic simulations and then compared with the results obtained through homogenized material properties based on linear elastic fracture mechanics. The results show good agreement between discrete atomistic and continuum mechanics modeling for fracture. Meanwhile, atomic stress fields in front of crack tips are investigated through molecular mechanics simulation by applying remote K-field deformation. The atomic stress distributions match very well with those of linear elastic solutions. These establish connections of fracture parameters between microscopic and macroscopic description of fracture in covalently bonded solids.

Atomistic simulations of J-integral in 2D graphene nanosystems.

The J-integral is investigated in discrete atomic systems using molecular mechanics simulations. A method of calculating J-integral in specified atomic domains is developed. Two cases, a semiinfinite crack in an infinite domain under the remote K-field deformation and a finite crack length in a finite geometry under the tensile and shear deformation prescribed on the boundary, are studied in the two-dimensional graphene sheets and the values of J-integral are obtained under small-strain deformation. The comparison with energy release rates in Mode I and Mode II based on continuum theory of linear elastic fracture mechanics show good agreements. Meanwhile, the nonlinear strain and stress relation of a 2D graphene sheet is evaluated and is fitted with a power law curve. With necessary modifications on the Tersoff-Brenner potential, the critical values of J-integral of 2D graphene systems, which denoted as Jc, are eventually obtained. The results are then compared with those from the relevant references.