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Damage Assessment and Structural Health Monitoring of Composites
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Damage Assessment and Structural Health Monitoring of Composites

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Physical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 June 2024) | Viewed by 6466

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Bing Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Interests: fracture and fatigue of composites; multi-functional composites; damage detection and health monitoring of composites; FEA
Dr. Mark Eaton

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Queen’s Building, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
Interests: structural health monitoring; damage detection; composite mechanics; nanocomposites
Prof. Dr. Yang Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya 572000, China
Interests: structural health monitoring; smart composites; sensors and actuators; energy harvesting
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Composite materials have been extensively used for manufacturing high-performance products in various industrial sectors, including aerospace, automotive, energy, electronics, marine, and construction. For example, the Boeing B787 and Airbus A350 both contain 50% fiber-reinforced polymer composites. The widespread and increasing use of composites is not only driven by their excellent mechanical properties, such as high specific strength and corrosion resistance compared to metallic materials, but also motivated by the increasing global demand to reduce carbon emissions. Safety margins are typically provided during the design stage of composite structures to allow for uncertainties arising from manufacturing and in-service loading. However, this approach sacrifices the lightweight benefit of composite materials to some extent. The regular damage assessment and structural health monitoring of composite structures can be implemented from the manufacturing stage to the end-of-life of composite structures. This allows for smaller margins to be set during the design stage, thus saving materials and reducing safety risks arising from manufacturing and loading uncertainties. Therefore, in addition to other research strands of composites, the past few decades have seen significant developments in the damage assessment and structural health monitoring techniques for composites. These techniques include, but are not limited to, visual inspection, acoustic emission, guided waves, fiber-optic sensors, dielectric, vibration, C-scan, CT scan, electromagnetic testing, thermography, and self-sensing via electrical measurements.

This Special Issue invites original research papers and review articles covering all aspects of the damage assessment (destructive and non-destructive) and structural health monitoring of composites, including fibrous and particulate composites. Both experimental and numerical studies are welcome. Manuscripts focusing on the application of damage assessment and health monitoring techniques in sustainable composites, as well as concise reviews of specific techniques used to manage the health condition of composites, are particularly encouraged.

Dr. Bing Zhang
Dr. Mark Eaton
Prof. Dr. Yang Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • composites
  • damage assessment
  • structural health monitoring
  • multifunctional composites

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

31 pages, 8697 KiB  
Article
Characterisation and Application of Bio-Inspired Hybrid Composite Sensors for Detecting Barely Visible Damage under Out-of-Plane Loadings
by Ali Tabatabaeian, Reza Mohammadi, Philip Harrison and Mohammad Fotouhi
Sensors 2024, 24(16), 5170; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24165170 - 10 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 978
Abstract
Traditional inspection methods often fall short in detecting defects or damage in fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite structures, which can compromise their performance and safety over time. A prime example is barely visible impact damage (BVID) caused by out-of-plane loadings such as indentation and [...] Read more.
Traditional inspection methods often fall short in detecting defects or damage in fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite structures, which can compromise their performance and safety over time. A prime example is barely visible impact damage (BVID) caused by out-of-plane loadings such as indentation and low-velocity impact that can considerably reduce the residual strength. Therefore, developing advanced visual inspection techniques is essential for early detection of defects, enabling proactive maintenance and extending the lifespan of composite structures. This study explores the viability of using novel bio-inspired hybrid composite sensors for detecting BVID in laminated FRP composite structures. Drawing inspiration from the colour-changing mechanisms found in nature, hybrid composite sensors composed of thin-ply glass and carbon layers are designed and attached to the surface of laminated FRP composites exposed to transverse loading. A comprehensive experimental characterisation, including quasi-static indentation and low-velocity impact tests alongside non-destructive evaluations such as ultrasonic C-scan and visual inspection, is conducted to assess the sensors’ efficacy in detecting BVID. Moreover, a comparison between the two transverse loading types, static indentation and low-velocity impact, is presented. The results suggest that integrating sensors into composite structures has a minimal effect on mechanical properties such as structural stiffness and energy absorption, while substantially improving damage visibility. Additionally, the influence of fibre orientation of the sensing layer on sensor performance is evaluated, and correlations between internal and surface damage are demonstrated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Damage Assessment and Structural Health Monitoring of Composites)
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22 pages, 15106 KiB  
Article
The Health Monitoring of Bonded Composite Joints Using Both Thickness and Radial Impedance Resonance Responses
by Steven P. Caldwell and Donald W. Radford
Sensors 2024, 24(8), 2508; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24082508 - 14 Apr 2024
Viewed by 896
Abstract
With the advent of bonded composites in today’s aircraft, there is a need to verify the structural integrity of the bonded joints that comprise their structure. To produce adequate joint integrity, strict process control is required during bonding operations. The latest non-destructive joint [...] Read more.
With the advent of bonded composites in today’s aircraft, there is a need to verify the structural integrity of the bonded joints that comprise their structure. To produce adequate joint integrity, strict process control is required during bonding operations. The latest non-destructive joint inspection techniques cannot quantify the strength of the bond and only indicate the presence of disbonds or delaminations. Expensive and timely proof-load testing of the joints is required to demonstrate structural performance. This work focuses on experimentally evaluating joint-health monitoring with piezoelectric sensors exposed to repeated loadings until failure. Single-lap-shear composite joints are structurally tested while using sensor electromechanical impedance response as a health indicator. Based on these experiments, validation of this novel method is achieved through detailed evaluation of the sensor impedance response characteristics during loading, which enable initial and prognostic joint health assessments. The experimental results indicate that the embedded piezoelectric sensors are able to measure the sensor impedance radial and thickness resonance response changes prior to joint failure, without sacrificing the joints’ structural performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Damage Assessment and Structural Health Monitoring of Composites)
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26 pages, 11786 KiB  
Article
An Approach for Easy Detection of Buried FRP Composite/Non-Metallic Pipes Using Ground-Penetrating Radar
by Jonas Kavi and Udaya B. Halabe
Sensors 2023, 23(20), 8465; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23208465 - 14 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1886
Abstract
Pipelines remain the safest means of transporting natural gas and petroleum products. Nonetheless, the pipeline infrastructure in the US is facing major challenges, especially in terms of corrosion of steel/metallic pipes and excavation damage of onshore pipelines (leading to oil spills, explosions, and [...] Read more.
Pipelines remain the safest means of transporting natural gas and petroleum products. Nonetheless, the pipeline infrastructure in the US is facing major challenges, especially in terms of corrosion of steel/metallic pipes and excavation damage of onshore pipelines (leading to oil spills, explosions, and deaths). Corrosion of metallic pipelines can be avoided by using non-corrosive materials such as plastic pipes for low-pressure applications and glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite pipes for transporting high-pressure oil and natural gas. However, buried non-metallic pipelines are not easily detectable, which can lead to increased excavation damage during construction and rehabilitation work. Alternative strategies for making buried non-metallic pipes easily locatable using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) were investigated in this study. Results from this study have shown that using carbon fabric or an aluminum foil overlay on non-metallic pipes before burying in soil significantly increases the reflected GPR signal amplitude, thereby making it easier to locate such pipelines. The reflected GPR signal amplitude for pipe sections with carbon fabric or aluminum foil overlays was found to have increased by a factor of up to 4.5 over the control samples. The results also highlight the importance of selecting the appropriate antenna frequency for GPR surveys, since wet silt loam soil and clay significantly reduce the penetration depths of the radar signals produced by the GPR antennae. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Damage Assessment and Structural Health Monitoring of Composites)
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15 pages, 6263 KiB  
Communication
Multivariable Signal Processing for Characterization of Failure Modes in Thin-Ply Hybrid Laminates Using Acoustic Emission Sensors
by Sakineh Fotouhi, Maher Assaad, Mohamed Nasor, Ahmed Imran, Akram Ashames and Mohammad Fotouhi
Sensors 2023, 23(11), 5244; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23115244 - 31 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1761
Abstract
The aim of this study was to find the correlation between failure modes and acoustic emission (AE) events in a comprehensive range of thin-ply pseudo-ductile hybrid composite laminates when loaded under uniaxial tension. The investigated hybrid laminates were Unidirectional (UD), Quasi-Isotropic (QI) and [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to find the correlation between failure modes and acoustic emission (AE) events in a comprehensive range of thin-ply pseudo-ductile hybrid composite laminates when loaded under uniaxial tension. The investigated hybrid laminates were Unidirectional (UD), Quasi-Isotropic (QI) and open-hole QI configurations composed of S-glass and several thin carbon prepregs. The laminates exhibited stress-strain responses that follow the elastic-yielding-hardening pattern commonly observed in ductile metals. The laminates experienced different sizes of gradual failure modes of carbon ply fragmentation and dispersed delamination. To analyze the correlation between these failure modes and AE signals, a multivariable clustering method was employed using Gaussian mixture model. The clustering results and visual observations were used to determine two AE clusters, corresponding to fragmentation and delamination modes, with high amplitude, energy, and duration signals linked to fragmentation. In contrast to the common belief, there was no correlation between the high frequency signals and the carbon fibre fragmentation. The multivariable AE analysis was able to identify fibre fracture and delamination and their sequence. However, the quantitative assessment of these failure modes was influenced by the nature of failure that depends on various factors, such as stacking sequence, material properties, energy release rate, and geometry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Damage Assessment and Structural Health Monitoring of Composites)
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