Damage Identification and Assessment Using Lamb Wave Propagation Parameters and Material Damping in FRP Composite Laminates

Abstract

A methodology for identify damage in the fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite has been proposed in this article. The Lamb wave dispersion theory was used to find the fitted peak frequency and loss less finite element model was used to find the modal frequencies in the composite laminates. The change in modal parameters with respect to undamaged and damaged specimen has been considered for the structural diagnosis. The combined finite element and Lamb wave method has been used to obtain damping parameters. The damping capacity was calculated at higher frequency and smaller amplitudes by using hybrid method. The Lamb waves were generated using ultrasonic pulse generator setup. The proposed method was implemented on FRP laminates (CFRP and GFRP) and the results were compared with bandwidth method.