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Updated: May 28, 2026

Research and Development of High-performance Explosives
Published on: February 20, 2016
Use of parabolic reflector to amplify in-air signals generated during impact-echo testing
Xiaowei Dai1, Jinying Zhu, Yi-Te Tsai
1Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. xdai@utexas.edu
Abstract:
The impact-echo method is a commonly used nondestructive testing technique for elastic plates in civil engineering. The impact-echo mode corresponds to the frequency at zero group velocity of S(1) Lamb mode. Recent development of the air-coupled impact-echo (ACIE) method introduces the possibility for rapid scanning of large structures and increases the practicality of in situ measurements. However, sensors used in ACIE are susceptible to ambient noise, which complicates in situ ACIE measurements. This letter presents the results of ACIE measurements taken using a parabolic reflector together with standard measurement microphones to increase the signal to noise ratio for ACIE measurements. The signal gain and effects of sensor location with respect to impact location are discussed.
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