Localisation and identification of fatigue matrix cracking and delamination in a carbon fibre panel by acoustic emission. (1st June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Crivelli, Davide; Guagliano, Mario; Eaton, Mark; Pearson, Matthew; Al-Jumaili, Safaa; Holford, Karen; Pullin, Rhys
• Is Part Of: Composites. Volume 74(2015)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 12
• Publication Date: 2015-06-01
• Subjects: A. Carbon fibre -- A. Laminates -- C. Damage mechanics -- D. Acoustic emission -- Artificial damage; Composite materials -- Periodicals; Materials science -- Periodicals; Composite materials; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 620.118
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2014.12.032
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-8368

Abstract

Abstract: Background: The use of Acoustic Emission (AE) as a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) technique is very attractive thanks to its ability to detect not only damage sources in real-time but also to locate them. Methods: To demonstrate the AE capabilities on known damage modes, a carbon fibre panel was manufactured with cut fibres in a central location and subjected to fatigue loading to promote matrix cracking. Subsequently, a delamination was created within the panel using an impact load, and the test was continued. Results: AE signals were located within the crack area in the first part of the test. After impact, AE signals were detected from both areas under fatigue loading; signals from this area were located and used for further analysis with the neural network technique. Conclusions: The application of an unsupervised neural network based classification technique successfully separated two damage mechanisms, related to matrix cracking and delamination. The results obtained allowed a more detailed understanding of such sources of AE in carbon fibre laminates.