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Detecting Damage in Composite Material Using Nonlinear Elastic Wave Spectroscopy Methods

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Abstract

Modern aerospace structures make increasing use of fibre reinforced plastic composites, due to their high specific mechanical properties. However, due to their brittleness, low velocity impact can cause delaminations beneath the surface, while the surface may appear to be undamaged upon visual inspection. Such damage is called barely visible impact damage (BVID). Such internal damages lead to significant reduction in local strengths and ultimately could lead to catastrophic failures. It is therefore important to detect and monitor damages in high loaded composite components to receive an early warning for a well timed maintenance of the aircraft. Non-linear ultrasonic spectroscopy methods are promising damage detection and material characterization tools. In this paper, two different non-linear elastic wave spectroscopy (NEWS) methods are presented: single mode nonlinear resonance ultrasound (NRUS) and nonlinear wave modulation technique (NWMS). The NEWS methods were applied to detect delamination damage due to low velocity impact (<12 J) on various composite plates. The results showed that the proposed methodology appear to be highly sensitive to the presence of damage with very promising future NDT and structural health monitoring applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Bath, Bath, BA2 3LT, UK

    Michele Meo & Umberto Polimeno

  2. CUED, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, UK

    Giuseppe Zumpano

Authors
  1. Michele Meo
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  2. Umberto Polimeno
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  3. Giuseppe Zumpano
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Correspondence to Michele Meo.

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Meo, M., Polimeno, U. & Zumpano, G. Detecting Damage in Composite Material Using Nonlinear Elastic Wave Spectroscopy Methods. Appl Compos Mater 15, 115–126 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-008-9061-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-008-9061-7

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