Sparse wavefield reconstruction and source detection using Compressed Sensing

The paper presents a Compressed Sensing technique for the reconstruction of guided wavefields. Structural inspections based on the analysis of guided wavefields have proven to be effective at detecting and characterizing damage. However, wavefield detection is often a time consuming process, which limits practicality. The proposed reconstruction technique estimates the location of sources and structural features interacting with the waves from a set of sparse measurements. Such features include damage, described as a scattering source. The wavefield is reconstructed by employing information on the dispersion properties of the medium under consideration. The procedure is illustrated through a one-dimensional analytical example, and subsequently applied to the reconstruction of an experimental wavefield in a composite panel with an artificial delamination. The results confirm the ability of the technique to identify the defect, while reconstructing the wavefield with good accuracy using a significantly reduced number of measurements.