Finite element analysis of ceramic tapping detection method

To address the problems of random placement of pickups and irregularities in the tapping process when traditional tapping is used to detect ceramic defects, this study proposes analyzing the optimal placement of pickups and optimizing boundary conditions to determine optimal values using COMSOL Multiphysics finite element simulation. First, an acoustic-solid coupling model of ceramic tapping is constructed to observe the effects of different boundary condition settings on the sound signal. Second, different probes are placed in the simulation to represent the pickups, and the pickup performance is evaluated by examining time-domain and frequency-domain plots. The results show that: (1) the tapping point should be selected on the side opposite to the constrained region; (2) excessive constraint locations can negatively affect the signal; and (3) the pickup array should not be excessively placed on the constrained surface of the ceramic piece to avoid frequency-domain waveform distortion. Comparing the time- and frequency-domain plots obtained from the simulation with those from actual tapping tests reveals that the two time-domain signals exhibit similar attenuation behavior, and the peak error in the frequency domain is ≤11.8% after excluding poorly performing pickups, thereby verifying the feasibility of simulating the sound field. The final results demonstrate that this optimization method can effectively collect multiple tapping signals, provide a rich dataset for machine learning, and has significant practical value in quality control and safety inspection of industrial ceramics.