An Interdigital Electrode Probe for Detection, Localization and Evaluation of Surface Notch-Type Damage in Metals.

Available microwave notch-type damage detection sensors are typically based on monitoring frequency shift or magnitude changes. However, frequency shift testing needs sweep-frequency data that make scanning detection becomes difficult and time-consuming. This work presents a microwave near-field nondestructive testing sensor for detecting sub-millimeter notch-type damage detection in metallic surfaces. The sensor is loaded with an interdigital electrode element in an open-ended coaxial. It is simple to fabricate and inexpensive, as it is etched on the RC4003 patch by using printed circuit board technology. The detection is achieved by monitoring changes in reflection amplitude, which is caused by perturbing the electromagnetic field around the interdigital structure. The proposed sensor was tested on a metallic plate with different defects, and the experimental results indicated that the interdigital electrode probe can determine the orientation, localization and dimension of surface notch-type damage.

Reconfigurable all-dielectric metasurface based on tunable chemical systems in aqueous solution.

Dynamic control transmission and polarization properties of electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation is investigated using chemical reconfigurable all-dielectric metasurface. The metasurface is composed of cross-shaped periodical teflon tubes and inner filled chemical systems (i.e., mixtures and chemical reaction) in aqueous solution. By tuning the complex permittivity of chemical systems, the reconfigurable metasurface can be easily achieved. The transmission properties of different incident polarized waves (i.e., linear and circular polarization) were simulated and experimentally measured for static ethanol solution as volume ratio changed. Both results indicated this metasurface can serve as either tunable FSS (Frequency Selective Surface) or tunable linear-to-circular/cross Polarization Converter at required frequency range. Based on the reconfigurable laws obtained from static solutions, we developed a dynamic dielectric system and researched a typical chemical reaction with time-varying permittivity filled in the tubes experimentally. It provides new ways for realizing automatic reconfiguration of metasurface by chemical reaction system with given variation laws of permittivity.