Detection of barely visible impact damage in polymeric laminated composites using a biomimetic tactile whisker

Fotouhi, Sakineh; Khayatzadeh, Saber; Pui, Wei Xia; Damghani, Mahdi; Bodaghi, Mahdi; Fotouhi, Mohammad

Abstract

This is a novel investigation on the possibility of detecting barely visible impact damage (BVID) in composite materials by whisking across the surface via tactile whisker sensors that resemble rats' whiskers. A series of drop tower low-velocity impact tests were performed on quasi-isotropic composite plates. The plates were made from unidirectional T800 carbon/MTM49-3 epoxy prepregs with the stacking sequence of [45/0/90/-45]4S. Investigating the specimens' surface by the naked eye does not reveal any significant damage, rather than a small dent on the surface, with no tangible difference in the different impact energy levels. Ultrasonic C-scan observations showed the existence of BVID in all the impact energy levels, with an increasing trend in the damage size by increasing the impact energy level. The collected data from whisker sensors were analyzed using the support vector machine classifier, based on their vibrational properties, to identify the impacted region and classify the impact severity. It was observed that after training for 13 whisker contacts, the BVID severity can be classified with an accuracy of 100%. This is offering a new BVID detection technique, with a high potential for automation and high reliability that can be used as an alternative or combined with available inspection systems.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 9, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Oct 18, 2021
• Publication Date: Oct 18, 2021
• Deposit Date: Oct 20, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 21, 2021
• Journal: Polymers
• Electronic ISSN: 2073-4360
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 20
• Article Number: 3587
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13203587
• Keywords: Composite materials; Damage detection; Low velocity impact; Whisker; Ultrasonic
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7925331