Full-scale testing of an ultrasonic guided wave based structural health monitoring system for a thermoplastic composite aircraft primary structure

This paper describes the test campaign of an ultrasonic guided wave (GW) based structural health monitoring system (SHM) deployed on a full-scale stiffened panel of a thermoplastic composite horizontal stabilizer torsion box. The diagnostic capabilities of the SHM system were successfully evaluated by testing barely-visible impact damage of different severities, applied in different critical areas of the structure. The test campaign allowed the successful validation of a novel procedure to consistently and reliably design a piezoelectric transducer network. It also allowed the gathering of strong evidence that piezoelectric transducer technology has appropriate durability characteristics for real SHM applications. Finally, it enabled the study of the influence of audible structural vibrations on GW signals.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Structural Integrity & CompositesAerospace Structures & Material