Assessment of Damage Detection in Composite Structures Using 3D Vibrometry

Carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) have been used significantly more in recent years due to their increased specific strength over aluminium structures. One major area in which their use has grown is the aerospace industry where many now use CFRP in their construction. One major problem with CFRP's is their low resistance to impacts. Structural health monitoring (SHM) aims to continually monitor a structure throughout its entire life and can allow aircraft owners to identify impact damage as it occurs. This means that it can be repaired prior to growth, saving weight with the repair and the time that aircraft is grounded. Two areas of SHM being researched are Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring and Acousto-Ultrasonics (AU) both based on an understanding of the propagation of ultrasonic waves. 3D Scanning laser vibrometry was used to monitor the propagation of AU waves with the aim of gaining a better understanding their interaction with delamination in carbon fibre reinforced polymers. Three frequencies were exited with a PZT transducer and the received signal analysed by a cross correlation method. The results from this and the vibrometer scans revealed 100 kHz as the most effective propagating frequency of the three. A high resolution scan was then conducted at this frequency where it could be seen that only the out of plane component of the wave interacted with the damage, in particular the A(0) mode. A 3D Fast Fourier Transform was then plotted, which identified the most effective frequency as 160 kHz.