Accurate acoustic classification research of visually similar monochrome porcelain fragments

Abstract Exploring a non-destructive and rapid evaluation method for precious ancient ceramic relics is of significant importance. Currently, there are countless monochrome porcelain fragments awaiting measurement and categorization. Various instruments such as XRF, XRD, SEM, OM, and thermoluminescence dating have been extensively utilized by numerous researchers to study ancient ceramics. However, these techniques pose challenges in reliably identifying monochrome porcelain fragments from the same kiln with similar appearance, content, and microstructure due to their limitations. To address this issue, this study presents an acoustic measurement system that utilizes audible frequencies to non-destructively evaluate monochrome porcelain fragments. The proposed method enables the extraction of parameters related to time domain analysis (e.g., group delay), frequency domain analysis (e.g., resonance), and sound loss characteristics of these fragments. This non-destructive and efficient technology for detecting acoustic characteristics of monochrome porcelain fragments presented in this work clarifies the fundamental principles governing the interaction between sound waves and ancient ceramic fragments while providing a completely non-destructive and highly efficient method for classifying and restoring valuable solid cultural heritages like stone, jade, bronze etc. Moreover, this approach can also be applied for non-destructive testing of elastic modulus in advanced ceramic devices including detecting small cracks, deterioration effects due to aging as well as other defects.