Integral ultrasonic structural health and load monitoring on a fiber reinforced polymer-based composite helicopter tail boom

Abstract

Results achieved with the developed health and load monitoring schemes based on high resolution temporally resolved observation of the transport properties of guided ultrasonic waves are presented and discussed. The methods are illustrated and results covering monitoring of ablation and delamination, time resolved load detection, and monitoring of impact positions with axial resolution are presented. The detection schemes have been primarily developed for integral monitoring of the presence and occurrence of damages including scaling of damages respectively determination of the occurrence of overloading and impact. Sensitivities and methods suitable for damage scaling are presented and discussed. The developed schemes are as well suitable for on-ground as for in-flight monitoring, with the exception that the impact position detection requires continuous operation at least in a stand by mode. Concerning the rather compact size and moderate power consumption the developed instrumentation is already suitable for in-flight respectively on-ground hand hold and battery powered operation. The achievements and results are presented, explained, and discussed.