Variational Mode Spectrum Estimation for Wire Rope Defect Inspection Signals Analysis and Quantitative Evaluation

Abstract

Wire rope is one of the most significant parts in guaranteeing the safety and health of infrastructures and practical structures. However, the defect frequently occurs when the wire rope is operating under sophisticated conditions, which makes the servicing wire rope and its related structures full of risk. Although many nondestructive testing techniques have been considered to solve the defect inspection and structural health monitoring (SHM) problems for wire rope, the inspection and monitoring results are greatly influenced by the testing environments. To deal with the challenges of quantitative wire rope nondestructive evaluation and SHM, a new variational mode decomposition and spectrum estimation method is proposed here. The preliminary signal analysis for typical wire broken defects under different wire rope operating speed is conducted in time, frequency and statistical domain. Then, a new quantitative wire rope evaluation method based on different defect signals features analysis, principle introduction, spectrum estimation and comparison with other mode decomposition techniques is presented, which demonstrate the feasibility and application promise for wire rope SHM and accurate evaluation.