Analysis of the zero-crossing technique in relation to measurements of phase velocities of the Lamb waves

Abstract

The delay time estimation using zero-crossing technique is widely used in ultrasonic measurements. The measurements of the phase velocity of guided waves are more complicated due to the dispersion. Application of zero-crossing technique for the measurements of the phase velocities is more complicated due to changes of the waveform of the signals and limited ranges of the measurements base. The objective of the work presented was to investigate in more details the influence of different parameters of the zero – crossing technique on measurement of the phase velocity of A₀ mode of the Lamb waves. Using the signals obtained from the finite element modelling of Lamb waves in a 2 mm thickness aluminium plate it was demonstrated that an insufficient sampling frequency can lead to the errors in the phase velocity and corresponding frequency estimations. On the other hand it was shown also, that in order to obtain a higher equivalent sampling frequency it is reasonable to exploit interpolation. The optimal parameters of the zero-crossing technique and necessary steps for phase velocity measurement are presented also.