The study of localized crack-induced effects of nonlinear vibro-acoustic modulation

The nonlinear interaction of longitudinal vibration and ultrasound in beams with cracks is investigated. The central focus is on the localization effect of this interaction, i.e., the locally enhanced nonlinear vibro-acoustic modulation. Both numerical and experimental investigations are undertaken. The finite element (FE) method is used to investigate different crack models, including the bi-linear crack, open crack, and breathing crack. A parametric study is performed considering different crack depths, locations, and boundary conditions in a two-dimensional beam model. The study shows that observed nonlinearities (i.e., nonlinear crack–wave modulations) are particularly strong in the vicinity of the crack, allowing not only for crack localization but also for the separation of the crack-induced nonlinearity from other sources of nonlinearity.