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Integration Technology with Thin Films Co-Fabricated in Laminated Composite Structures for Defect Detection and
Rogers K Langat1,2, Emmanuel De Luycker1, Arthur Cantarel2
1Laboratoire Génie de Production (LGP), University of Technology Tarbes Occitanie Pyrénées (UTTOP), University of Toulouse, 65000 Tarbes, France.
Micromachines
|February 24, 2024
Summary
Intelligent structures with embedded sensors offer autonomous structural health monitoring (SHM) for aircraft. This approach enables real-time damage detection, reducing maintenance downtime and costs in the aeronautics industry.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Aerospace Engineering
- Structural Health Monitoring
Background:
- Traditional non-destructive testing (NDT) methods are insufficient for autonomous monitoring in demanding industries like aeronautics.
- Routine aircraft maintenance leads to significant downtime and revenue loss.
- Intelligent structures offer a pathway to enhanced condition-based maintenance and reduced life-cycle costs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the use of intelligent materials for enhancing condition-based maintenance in aircraft.
- To shift towards a structural health monitoring (SHM) paradigm for real-time aircraft condition assessment.
- To reduce aircraft downtime and life-cycle costs through innovative monitoring techniques.
Main Methods:
- Integration of active thin film piezoelectric materials into composite structures for embedded sensing.
- Evaluation of passive sensing using acoustic emission (AE) signals.
- Active sensing utilizing Lamb wave propagation with amplitude-based and frequency domain analysis for damage detection.
- Development of a comprehensive signal processing approach, including damage index and damage size correlation functions.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated the sensitivity of proposed methods to changes in material properties and defect severity for continuous monitoring.
- Introduced damage index and damage size correlation functions for quantitative damage assessment.
- Proposed finite element modeling and experimental validation for enhanced understanding and applicability.
Conclusions:
- The study contributes to developing more efficient and cost-effective aircraft maintenance strategies through SHM.
- The proposed approach addresses the competitive demands of the aeronautic industry by enabling real-time structural monitoring.
- Intelligent materials and SHM offer a promising solution for autonomous monitoring and predictive maintenance in aerospace applications.
