Detection of low-velocity impact-induced delaminations in composite laminates using Auto-Regressive models

In this paper, the detection of delaminations in carbon-fiber-reinforced-plastic (CFRP) laminate plates induced by low-velocity impacts (LVI) is investigated by means of Auto-Regressive (AR) models obtained from the time histories of the acquired responses of the composite specimens. A couple of piezoelectric patches for actuation and sensing purposes are employed. The proposed structural health monitoring (SHM) routine begins with the selection of the suitable locations of the piezoelectric transducers via the numerical analysis of the curvature mode shapes of the CFRP plates. The normalized data recorded for the undamaged plate configuration are then analyzed to obtain the most suitable AR model using five techniques based on the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), the Akaike Final Prediction Error (FPE), the Partial Autocorrelation Function (PAF), the Root Mean Squared (RMS) of the AR residuals for different order p, and the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) is then applied on the AR model parameters to enhance the performance of the proposed delamination identification routine. Results show the effectiveness of the developed procedure when a reduced number of sensors is available

Principal component analysis and perturbation theory–based robust damage detection of multifunctional aircraft structure

A fundamental problem in structural damage detection is to define an efficient feature to calculate a damage index. Furthermore, due to perturbations from various sources, we also need to define a rigorous threshold whose overtaking indicates the presence of damages. In this article, we develop a robust damage detection methodology based on principal component analysis. We first present an original damage index based on projection of the separation matrix, and then, we drive a novel adaptive threshold that does not rely on statistical assumptions. This threshold is analytic, and it is based on matrix perturbation theory. The efficiency of the method is illustrated using simulations of a composite smart structure and experimental results performed on a conformal load-bearing antenna structure laboratory test

Modeling of macro fiber composite actuated laminate plates and aerofoils

© 2019 Sage Publications . The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in the Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures by Sage Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. It is available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1045389X19888728This article investigates the modeling of macro fiber composite-actuated laminate plates with distributed actuator patches. The investigation details an analytical and finite element modeling, with experimental validation of the bending strain and deflection of an epoxy E-glass fiber composite laminate. An analytical approach is also developed to estimate the plate deflection from the experimental strain measurements. The analytical method uses direct integration of single dimensional plate bending moments obtained by strain-induced shear moments from the macro fiber composite actuators. Finite element analysis software was used with the composite laminate modeled in ANSYS ACP. The results from both analytical and numerical models show good agreement with the experimental results, with strain values agreeing within 20 ppm and the maximum difference in deflection not exceeding 0.1 mm between models. Finally, an application of the analytical model for developing morphing aerofoil designs is demonstrated.Peer reviewe

Low-Speed Aeroelastic Modeling of Very Flexible Slender Wings with Deformable Airfoils

Published versio

Perturbation Analysis for Robust Damage Detection with Application to Multifunctional Aircraft Structures

The most widely known form of multifunctional aircraft structure is smart structures for structural health monitoring (SHM). The aim is to provide automated systems whose purposes are to identify and to characterize possible damage within structures by using a network of actuators and sensors. Unfortunately, environmental and operational variability render many of the proposed damage detection methods difficult to successfully be applied. In this paper, an original robust damage detection approach using output-only vibration data is proposed. It is based on independent component analysis and matrix perturbation analysis, where an analytical threshold is proposed to get rid of statistical assumptions usually performed in damage detection approach. The effectiveness of the proposed SHM method is demonstrated numerically using finite element simulations and experimentally through a conformal load-bearing antenna structure and composite plates instrumented with piezoelectric ceramic materials.FUI MSIE (Pole Astech

Piezo-electromechanical smart materials with distributed arrays of piezoelectric transducers: Current and upcoming applications

This review paper intends to gather and organize a series of works which discuss the possibility of exploiting the mechanical properties of distributed arrays of piezoelectric transducers. The concept can be described as follows: on every structural member one can uniformly distribute an array of piezoelectric transducers whose electric terminals are to be connected to a suitably optimized electric waveguide. If the aim of such a modification is identified to be the suppression of mechanical vibrations then the optimal electric waveguide is identified to be the 'electric analog' of the considered structural member. The obtained electromechanical systems were called PEM (PiezoElectroMechanical) structures. The authors especially focus on the role played by Lagrange methods in the design of these analog circuits and in the study of PEM structures and we suggest some possible research developments in the conception of new devices, in their study and in their technological application. Other potential uses of PEMs, such as Structural Health Monitoring and Energy Harvesting, are described as well. PEM structures can be regarded as a particular kind of smart materials, i.e. materials especially designed and engineered to show a specific andwell-defined response to external excitations: for this reason, the authors try to find connection between PEM beams and plates and some micromorphic materials whose properties as carriers of waves have been studied recently. Finally, this paper aims to establish some links among some concepts which are used in different cultural groups, as smart structure, metamaterial and functional structural modifications, showing how appropriate would be to avoid the use of different names for similar concepts. © 2015 - IOS Press and the authors

Design and development of a smart panel with five decentralised control units for the reduction of vibration and sound radiation

This Technical Report discusses the design and the construction of a smart panel with five decentralised direct velocity feedback control units in order to reduce the vibration of the panel dominated by well separated low frequency resonances. Each control unit consists of an accelerometer sensor and a piezoelectric patch strain actuator. The integrated accelerometer signal is fed back to the actuator via a fixed negative control gain. In this way the actuator generates a control excitation proportional and opposite to the measured transverse velocity of the panel so that it produces active damping on the panel. First the open loop frequency response function between the sensor and the actuator of a single channel has been studied and an analogue controller has been designed and tested in order to improve the stability of this control system. Following the stability of all five control units has been assessed using the generalised Nyquist criterion. Finally the performances of the smart panel have been tested with reference to the reduction of the vibrations at the error positions and with reference to the reduction of the radiated sound. Finally in appendix to this Report, a parametric study is presented on the properties of sensor-actuator FRFs measured with different types of piezoelectric patch actuators. The results of this parametric study have been used in order to choose the actuators to be used for the construction of the smart pane