Development and Implementation of a Cyberinfrastructure Framework for Research in Nondestructive Evaluation Using Acoustic Emission Data

Abstract

This paper presents the development and validation of a cyberinfrastructure architecture for research in nondestructive evaluation (NDE) using acoustic emission (AE) data. Existing cyberinfrastructures for civil engineering focus in the curation and preservation of data. In contrast, the proposed cyberinfrastructure is intended to serve as a tool to enable innovation by providing a platform to prototype analysis techniques and sharing data and analysis methods among a research team while removing the burden of memory and computational cost from the user. This is achieved by streamlining the access of large and complex experimental data sets, facilitating the selection of part of the experimental data depending on data features, distributing data analysis using a distributed computing strategy, and allowing the creation of new data features that can be used for subsequent analysis. The experimental data set potentially include data from AE sensors, strain gages, load cells, clip gages, and accelerometers. The proposed framework uses a relational database to store data, web services for data communication, a Condor pool for high throughput computing, and a graphical interface for interaction with the user. An example using data obtained from a compact tension fatigue test is used to show the capabilities of the developed framework.