Abstract
In the design of automobiles, occupant safety during a crash is an important factor in consideration. The vehicle should identity impact, handle passenger safety through deployment of various safety restraint systems, and steer away the vehicle from impact. With this background, this work is to find the impact location, magnitude, and identify damage on a metallic structure.
The first phase through the use of experimental and FEA is to demonstrate the piezoceramic sensor effectiveness and its ability to handle different orientations. In the second phase, the dynamic plate equation for impact is developed using Mindlin plate model, Ritz energy approach, and Hamilton principle. In the third phase, different forward model case studies of static and dynamic compared with FEM and theoretical work. The final phase, is to find frequency of undamaged and damaged plate area of 0.1% and 1% for various locations, to help in damage or no damage identification scenario.
