This paper presents a Nonlinear Electro-Mechanical Impedance Spectroscopy (NEMIS) methodology for fatigue crack monitoring. Different from the conventional Electro-Mechanical Impedance Spectroscopy (EMIS) implemented in frequency domain, the current work employs a temporal chirp-based interrogative excitation to obtain the impedance spectrum, and simultaneously captures the Contact Acoustic Nonlinearity (CAN) arising from fatigue crack interfaces. To develop an insight into the mechanism behind the chirp-based impedance method, a comparative investigation between the conventional EMIS and the chirp-based NEMIS algorithm is conducted. Numerical studies are carried out on a transitional-bilinear CAN model to illustrate the chirp-induced higher harmonics and nonlinear mixed-frequency response features. Furthermore, finite element simulations are conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the chirp-based NEMIS. Finally, experimental validation of the NEMIS method is performed. The chirp-based impedance spectra are verified against results from the impedance analyzer. Fatigue cracks are nucleated and grown on the MTS testing machine with cyclic loadings. Higher harmonics and wave modulation features can be successfully captured to manifest the existence of the fatigue crack. Quantification on the severity of the crack is conducted using the nonlinear damage index. The paper finishes with summary, concluding remarks, and suggestions for future work.
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