A novel Terfenol-D transducer for guided-wave inspection of a rotating shaft

The purpose of this study is to develop a new ultrasonic transducer capable of transmitting and receiving guided-waves in a rotating shaft. The key idea in this development is the use of wireless capability of the magnetostrictive effect. In this investigation, relatively low-frequency longitudinal waves are generated by Terfenol-D, a giant magnetostrictive alloy (GMA). After an underlying magnetostrictive transducer configuration is presented, the effects of various design parameters on the transducer performances are studied experimentally. The material behavior of Terfenol-D is also briefly discussed. To show the effectiveness of the developed transducer, the transducer is used for guided-wave damage inspection in a rotating shaft having an artificial crack.