Acoustic Emission Monitoring of Defects in Buckling CFRP Composite Panels

Abstract

The presence of impact damage in a carbon fibre composite can reduce its capacity to support an in-plane load, which can lead to an unexpected or premature failure. This paper reports on an investigation into two slender carbon/fibre epoxy panels, one un-damaged and one with an artificial delamination introduced using an embedded section of PTFE. The reported tests form part of a larger series of investigations using differing sizes of artificial delamination and real impact damage. An investigation of wave velocity propagation at varying angles to the composite lay up was completed to assist in source location. The specimens were loaded under, uniaxial in-plane loading and monitored using four resonant acoustic emission sensors. A full field optical measurement system was used to measure the global displacement of the specimens. Analysis of AE waveforms and AE hit rate were used to assess the buckling of the panel. The results compared favourably with the optical measurement results.