Session: 15-01: Structural Health Monitoring

Paper Number: 97185

97185 - Numerical Simulation of a Fast Technique for Damage Localization in Composite Laminates 

Composite materials have high strength and elastic modulus, so they are widely used in aerospace, automobile, ship and other fields. However, composite structures are susceptible to damage caused by low-speed impact during the manufacture and service, which affects structural stability and poses a safety hazard. Damage localization of them is challenging due to the complexity and diversity of composite laminates and it is attracting growing attention from the research community.

In this paper, a fast technique for damage localization in composite laminates is proposed that uses the time difference of arrival in ‘L’ shaped sensor clusters. It requires neither knowing the acoustic wave speed of the composite laminate nor solving a system of nonlinear equations. A solution technique based on Lamb waves and the time difference of arrival, which are obtained by performing cross-correlation processing on the damage features extracted from the received signals is provided. With the help of the ‘L’ shaped sensor clusters, only seven sensers are required to quickly predict the delamination damage location for quasi-isotropic and anisotropic composite materials. Finite element models for different damage location and layup directions of composite laminates were created to investigate the wave propagation characteristics in them and verify the new damage localization technique. Simulation results show that the proposed technique is feasible for both quasi-isotropic and anisotropic composite laminates. Since this technique uses only seven sensors to localize the damage in composite structures even when the material properties of the structural material are unknown and it should be very helpful for defect detection.

Keywords: damage localization; time difference of arrival; numerical simulation; composite laminates

Presenting Author: Tribikram Kundu The University of Arizona