Lamb wave sensing using fiber Bragg grating sensors for delamination detection in composite laminates

Abstract

The authors are constructing a damage detection system using ultrasonic waves. In this system, a piezo-ceramic actuator generates Lamb waves in a CFRP laminate. After the waves propagate in the laminate, transmitted waves are received by a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor attached on the laminate using a newly developed high-speed optical wavelength interrogation system. At first, the optimal gauge length of the FBG to detect ultrasonic waves was investigated through theoretical simulations and experiments. Then, the directional sensitivity of the FBG to ultrasonic waves was evaluated experimentally. On the basis of the above results, the 1mm FBG sensors were applied to the detection of Lamb waves propagated in carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) cross-ply laminates. The piezo-actuator was put on the laminate about 50mm away from the FBG sensor glued on the laminate, and three-cycle sine waves of 300kHz were excited repeatedly. The waveforms obtained by the FBG showed that S0 and A0 modes could be detected appropriately. Then, artificial delamination was made in the laminate by removing of a Teflon sheet embedded in the 0/90 interface after the manufacturing. When the Lamb waves passed through the delamination, the amplitude decreased and a new wave mode appeared. These phenomena could be well simulated using a finite element method. Furthermore, since the amplitude and the velocity of the new mode increased with an increase in the delamination length, this system has a potential to evaluate the interlaminar delamination length quantitatively.