In-situ acoustic emission based technique for damage detection and identification and failure mode prediction in scarf repaired composite structures

Abstract

One of the great challenges facing adhesively bonded repair procedures in the industry is the absence of a reliable structural health monitoring technique to ensure that the repaired region is intact during service. To this end, this paper proposes a novel in-situ acoustic emission-based methodology to detect and identify damages as well as to predict failure modes at early stages. In this essence, two tapered-scarf repaired plates are produced with different patch materials. The first patch consists of neat carbon fiber prepregs whereas in the second thermally exfoliated graphene oxide integrated carbon fiber prepregs are utilized. Testing the constituents of the repair system individually while monitoring their acoustic activity makes it possible to separate each damage type precisely. Hence, when the specimens of the repaired panel are tested, very detailed information is revealed regarding the current structural status of the specimen and probable failure scenarios. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed methodology in detecting and identifying damages of varying severity in addition to predicting the failure scenario are verified in the composite panels repaired with pristine and graphene integrated patches.