Integrated experimental and numerical investigation for fatigue damage diagnosis in composite plates

An integrated experimental and numerical investigation of fatigue damage diagnosis in composite plates is presented in this study. First, the fatigue testing setup for carbon-carbon composite coupons is described with corresponding health monitoring approach through Lamb wave-based diagnostic data collection. In order to study the effects of degradation evolution, a finite element model is used to simulate the effect on Lamb wave propagation due to fatigue-induced delamination and matrix cracking. Simulation results are compared with the experimental testing to first validate the model and then develop several features as potential damage indicators. A parametric study is conducted on the effects of varying degrees of delamination and matrix cracking on these features. Results from the model simulations are presented along with the data analysis and discussions on the capability and limitations of the approach. Finally, some conclusions are drawn and future work is proposed based on the results obtained so far.