Development of a low-cost non-destructive test system for measurement of elastic modulus

Abstract

Conventional measurement processes to determine elastic modulus of samples such as tensile or flexural test and bending test are typically unidirectional and destructive in nature for the measured samples. The industrial grade and commercially available Non-Destructive Test (NDT) measurement instrument based on the impulse excitation technique is meanwhile expensive. This project involves designing and developing a low-cost NDT system for the measurement of elastic modulus based on the impulse excitation technique. Secondly, it is to compare the performance of the measurement system with the tensile test. The performance of the NDT prototype will be put to test by using different type of specimens such as aluminium alloy, copper, brass, and carbon steel. Each type of specimen will carry be tested three times to get the average of the data. After all the data collection of the NDT measurement system, the tensile test will be carried out. A comparison for the measurement of the elastic modulus will be conducted between the NDT system, tensile test, and theoretical results. The expected outcome for this project is to develop a NDT for the measurement of the elastic modulus. This project also aims to reduce the industrial waste, reduce the cost of the sample test and maintain the accuracy and the performance of the NDT system compared with the tensile test.