Location of delaminations in curved laminated panels

In the present study the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) area of science was applied to several levels of analysis: 1, confirmation the existence of damage, 2, determination of the size, location and orientation of the defect, 3, assessment the severity of the damage, 4, controlling the growth of damage and prognosis of service life of construction. The wave propagation in the panel/plate with local delamination was analyzed both numerically and experimentally. The excitation signal was generated by one actuator or more actuators to analyze the effectiveness of the method. Data from PZT sensors were collected by the analyzer and then signals were converted to digital ones with the use of MATLAB package. Based on collected data from different sensors and comparison with wave propagation model of intact structures it is possible to determine localization, size and orientation of defect using the proposed damage index. Experimental analysis has been compared with numerical results both for plates and flat cylindrical panels. In the next step of our analysis we considered optimal design of the location and number of piezoelectric sensors and actuators to characterize their influence on the structural dynamic response.