An experimental study on the repair of a notched beam subjected to dynamic loading withpiezoelectric patches

Abstract

An experimental realization of the effective repair of a notched cantilever beam structuresubjected to dynamic loading by use of piezoelectric patches is reported. In theexperiment, a small piezoelectric patch used as a sensor is placed on the notchposition to monitor the severity of the stress concentration around the notch area bymeasuring the charge output on the sensor, and a patch used as an actuator is locatedaround the notch area to generate a required bending moment by employing anactuation voltage to reduce the stress concentration at the notch position. Theactuation voltage on the actuator is designed from a feedback circuit process.An analytical model is first established for the repair process by providing thecalculation of the actuation voltage, and then a finite element model (FEM) isconducted to verify the effectiveness of the analytical model. Finally, repair of anotched cantilever beam is realized experimentally. Both the numerical simulationsand the experimental studies show that the developed practical structural repairtechnique for notched beams with piezoelectric patches is effective and efficient.