Diagonal piezoelectric sensors on cylindrical shells

Piezoelectric sensors are effective for distributed health monitoring and sensing of structures. The signals of piezoelectric sensors are related to the orientation of the sensors. In this study, a diagonal piezoelectric sensor is proposed for cylindrical shells. The sensor is made of a rectangular piezoelectric patch and diagonally attached on the shell surface; and piezoelectric actuators are used for excitation. An analytical model of the sensor is derived based on thin shell assumption with simply-supported boundary conditions. The orientation angle of the piezoelectric sensor is introduced as an independent variable. The proposed model consists of an integral term over the electrode area, which is divided into three regions for calculation. The sensing signal is decomposed into six components to evaluate the contributions of the strain components. Case studies on signals with respect to the orientation and aspect ratios are accomplished. The cylindrical shell with piezoelectric actuators and diagonal sensors is fabricated and tested under laboratory condition. Comparison of theoretical results with experimental data is conducted, and the model of the diagonal sensors is validated. The errors between the predictions and experimental results are less than 10% for all evaluated modes.