SUMMARY

This thesis presents two novel methods for mapping damage in plates along with a concept for optical acquisition of guided waves in plates. The Two-Dimensional Phase Gradient method utilizes is shown to be effective for identifying and mapping cracks. The second method, the Phase Congruency for Damage Mapping is successful at mapping a wider range of characteristics including delaminations, geometrical changes in the sample, mass additions and impact damage in addition to cracks. These methods improve robustness by excluding baseline measurement and limiting the use of models as well as increase the level of information available to a Non-Destructive Evaluation practitioner. The second main contribution of this work is a framework for a novel optical method for acquiring guided wave signals in plates. This preliminary investigation shows that high speed cameras are capable of capturing full guided wave fields in far less time than a comparable acquisition. Analysis of the captured data revealed that the guided wave was in fact captured although at very low signal to noise ratios. Both of these contributions are important steps on the path to developing robust guided wave methods that are suitable for field use.