Method and apparatus for testing material strengths
US5621172A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 3, 1995 |
| Grant date | Apr 15, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 3, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2291/2634
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An apparatus and a non-destructive method for evaluating material strengths is described. One embodiment of the apparatus comprises a waveform generator that generates either (1) a sinusoidal waveform having a frequency that sweeps from a low frequency to a high frequency, or a high frequency to a low frequency, wherein the low frequency is from about 10 Hz to about 150 Hz, and the high frequency is from about 6,000 Hz to about 24,000 Hz, or (2) a pseudo random within the frequency range of from about 150 Hz to about 6,000 Hz. An electromechanical driver is electronically linked to the waveform generator and mechanically coupled to a test material, particularly in-service utility poles, at a drive position. Force and acceleration sensors are coupled to the test material at various positions. A microprocessor is used to collect digitized data from the force sensor and the accelerometers, perform a transfer function and determine the strength remaining in the test material using a neural network model.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.