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Performance Characterization of Radar-Based Delamination Assessment in Glass Fiber Reinforced Composites
Manuel E Rao1, Vittorio Memmolo2, Jochen Moll1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Siegen, Paul-Bonatz-Straße 9-11, 57076 Siegen, Germany.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 12, 2026
Summary
This study demonstrates radar technology for detecting delamination in composite materials. It achieves high accuracy in identifying damage, with a minimum detectable delamination size as small as 0.01mm.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Non-Destructive Testing
- Microwave Engineering
Background:
- Composite materials like those in wind turbine blades require effective structural health monitoring.
- Radar technology offers a promising non-contact method for damage detection.
- Probability of Detection (POD) theory is crucial for assessing the performance of sensing techniques.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate radar-based delamination detection in glass fiber reinforced polymer plates.
- To assess the performance of radar sensing for structural health monitoring using POD.
- To develop a high-resolution POD representation through nonlinear regression and optimal thresholding.
Main Methods:
- Utilized frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar in the 57-65 GHz range.
- Created a delamination model with plate separations from 0mm to 1mm.
- Employed root mean square deviation and Mahalanobis distance as damage indicators (DIs).
- Implemented nonlinear regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for POD analysis.
Main Results:
- Achieved accurate assessment of structural condition (95%-100% correct) based on radar distance.
- Determined a minimum detectable delamination size ranging from 0.01mm to 0.08mm.
- Demonstrated the effectiveness of nonlinear regression and ROC curves for high-resolution POD.
Conclusions:
- Radar technology, particularly FMCW radar, is highly effective for detecting delamination in composite structures.
- The developed POD methodology provides reliable performance assessment for practical applications.
- This non-contact sensing approach enables precise identification of small-scale structural damage.
