Impact detection and identification

Collaborators

• • Prof. Hyonny Kim, UCSD

Funding:

• • Air Force Office of Scientific Research

  • Los Alamos/UCSD Educational Collaboration Program

  • Federal Aviation Administration

Synopsis:

This research area is devoted to the detection of impact events on composite aircraft structures and the quantification of possible subsequent damage using AE monitoring. A key outcome of this work is the identification of the impact force from the detected AE waves. For this purpose, we have developed a wave-based inverse identification algorithm for determining the time history of the impact force magnitude (Force Identification). The method is based on inverting a Semi-Analytical Finite Element Analysis-based forced solution for the panel and minimizing the difference between predicted and measured responses. Our identification method was able to match well the experimentally-measured impact force histories from hammers and also predict the high-velocity impact force histories from wood and ice projectiles lunched from a gas-gun at speeds up to 170 m/sec. Using this method, accurate impact force identification has been performed on both aluminum and CFRP composite aerospace panels.

Another outcome of this work has been the discrimination of “damaging impacts” from “non-damaging impacts” from the waveforms recorded in the panels (Impact Classification). Once implemented in an SHM system, such impact classification ability will help making the most appropriate decision such as follow-up NDE inspections. Our impact classification metric is based on the frequency content of the generated AE waves and statistical pattern recognition algorithms. Successful impact classification using this method has been conducted on both Aluminum and CFRP panels, and confirmed by ultrasonic C-scans performed on the panels following the impacts.

Selected Publications:

C. Nucera, S. White, Z. M. Chen, H. Kim, and F. Lanza di Scalea, “Impact Monitoring In Stiffened Composite Aerospace Panels By Wave Propagation,” Structural Health Monitoring International Journal, 14(6), pp. 547-557, 2015 . 

Lanza di Scalea, F., Kim, H., White, S., Chen, Z., Salamone, S., and Bartoli, I., “Impact Monitoring In Aerospace Panels Via Piezoelectric Rosettes,” Composite Materials and Joining Technologies for Composites, Vol. 7, E. Patterson et al. (eds.), 7 pgs., 2012.

Salamone, S., Bartoli, I., Di Leo, P., Lanza di Scalea, F., Ajovalasit, A., D’Acquisto, L., Rhymer, J., and Kim, H., “High-velocity Impact Location on Aircraft Panels Using Macro-fiber Composite Piezoelectric Rosettes,” Journal of Intelligent Materials Systems and Structures, 21(9), pp. 887-896, 2010.

Bartoli, I., Salamone, S., Lanza di Scalea, F., Rhymer, J. and Kim, H., “Impact Force Identification on Aerospace Panels,” Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress, Vancouver, Canada, November 12-18, 2010.

Bartoli, I., Salamone, S., Mezzanotte, M., Lanza di Scalea, F., Kim, H., Rhymer, J., “Impact Force Identification on Isotropic and Composite Panels,” Proceedings of SPIE’s Smart Structures NDE Conference, Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems IV (Vol. 7650), San Diego, CA, March 7-11, pp. 7650071-76500712, 2010.

Bartoli, I., Salamone, S., Di Leo, P., Mezzanotte, M., Lanza di Scalea, F., Kim, H., Rhymer, J., Phillips, R., Ajovalasit, A., and D’Acquisto, L., “Impact Force Identification and Location on Isotropic and Composite Panels,” Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, September 9-11, pp. 1902-1909, 2009.