Damage localization using transient non-linear elastic wave spectroscopy on composite structures

To reduce the costs related to maintenance of aircraft structures, there is the need to develop new robust, accurate and reliable damage detection methods. A possible answer to this problem is offered by newly developed non-linear acoustic/ultrasonic techniques, which monitor the non-linear elastic wave propagation behaviour introduced by damage, to detect its presence and location.In this paper, a new transient non-linear elastic wave spectroscopy (TNEWS) is presented for the detection and localization of a scattered zone (damage) in a composite plate. The TNEWS analyses the uncorrelations between two structural dynamic responses generated by two different pulse excitation amplitudes by using a time–frequency coherence function. A numerical validation of the proposed method is presented. Damage was introduced and modelled using a multi-scale material constitutive model (Preisach–Mayergoyz space).The developed technique identified in a clear manner the faulted zone, showing its robustness to locate and characterize non-linear sources in composite materials