This study focuses on an active monitoring method for damage detection applied to composite structures. Honeycomb sandwich and carbon fiber composite structures are studied. Two kinds of damage are considered: delamination and impact damage. Wavelet analysis methods are adopted to postprocess the raw monitored signal. A new damage signature is introduced to determine the presence and extent of damage in composites, while eliminating the influence of different distances between the active actuator and active monitoring elements. The proposed method is shown to be effective, reliable, and straightforward for the specimens considered in the present study, which are composed of different materials and suffer various levels of damage. An online real-time active monitoring system for damage detection is described that is based on this research.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
composite materials, vibrations, nondestructive testing
Topics:
Composite materials, Damage, Honeycomb structures, Signals, Carbon fibers, Delamination
1.
Crawley
,
E. A.
, and
DeLuis
,
J.
,
1987
, “
Use of Piezoelectric Actuators as Elements of Intelligent Structures
,”
AIAA J.
,
25
(
10
), pp.
1375
–
1385
.
2.
Chaudhry, Z., Joseph, T., Sun, F., and Rogers, C., 1995, “Local Area Health Monitoring of Aircraft Via Piezoelectric Actuator/Sensor Patched,” Proceedings, SPIE Symposium on Smart Structure and Materials, Vol. 2443, pp. 38–49.
3.
Ayres, T., Chaudhry, Z., and Rogers, C., 1996, “Localized Health Monitoring of Civil Infrastructure via Piezoelectric Actuator/Sensor Patches,” Proceedings, SPIE’s 1996 Symposium on Smart Structures and Integrated Systems, SPIE Vol. 2719, pp. 123–131.
4.
Giurgiutiu, V., and Zagai, A., 2000, “Damage Detection in Simulated Aging-Aircraft Panels Using the Electrico-Mechanical Impedance Technique,” Adaptive Structure and Material Systems Symposium, ASME Winter Annual Meeting, Nov., Orlando.
5.
Duke, J. C., Jr., 1988, Acoustic-Ultrasonics-Theory and Application, Plenum Press.
6.
Tao, B., Yuan, S., and Shi, L., 1995, “Strength Self-diagnose and Self-adaptive Smart Structure,” Scientific Appraisal Report, China Aviation Company.
7.
Keilers
,
C. H.
, and
Chang
,
F-K.
,
1995
, “
Identifying Delaminations in Composite Beams Using Built-in Piezoelectrics: Part I-Experiments and Analysis; Part II-An Identification Method
,”
J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct.
,
6
, pp.
649
–
672
.
8.
Lakshamnan, K. A., and Pines, D. J., 1997, “
Modeling Damage in Composite Rotorcraft Flexbeams Using Wave Mechanics,” J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct., (in press).
9.
Liu
,
T.
,
1997
, “
Theoretical Research of Input and Output of Acoustic-ultrasonic Elements on Euler Beam: Vibration
,”
Test and Diagnose
,
17
(
3
), pp.
37
–
42
.
10.
Yuan
,
S.
,
Zhu
,
X.
,
Tao
,
B.
, and
Wang
,
L.
, “Application of Stress Wave Factor Technology to Damage Monitoring of Sandwich Structure,” Journal of Data Acquisition & Processing, 15, pp. 486–490.
11.
Chui, C. K., 1992, An Introduction to Wavelets, Academic Press, San Diego.
12.
Zhao, S., and Xiong, X., 1997, Wavelet Transform and Wavelet Analysis, Publishing House of Electronics Industry, Beijing, China.
Copyright © 2003
 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.