Numerical and experimental study of a SHM system for a drop-ply delaminated configuration

The present paper presents the experimental and FE numerical analyses of a Structural Health Monitoring system for a drop-ply configuration. In order to verify the mechanical experimental setup of the assembling between the host structure and the piezo-film patches in term of constraint, transient and modal analyses are first performed in order to compare the experimental responses to those obtained by from the numerical analyses performed with the commercial code COMSOL Multiphysics®. Then the Finite Element modelling of the piezoelectric sensors, to be used in the numerical analysis of the assembled structure, is validated through the comparison with the experimental data provided by the sensors manufacturer. Lastly, dynamic experimental and numerical analyses are performed on the undamaged and damaged drop-ply configuration in order to verify the effectiveness of a damage index in highlighting the position of the delamination tips.