Assessment of damage in composites using static component generation of ultrasonic guided waves

Static component (SC) generation of guided waves (GWs), which combines the high sensitivity of acoustic nonlinearity to micro-damage and low attenuative effect, has great potential for damage assessment in large composite structures. The present work explores the use of SC generation of GWs for assessing damages in carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite laminates. The features including mode, waveform, and cumulative effect of the generated SC in composites are numerically investigated by three-dimensional finite element modeling and simulation. A dynamic displacement measurement method based on piezoelectric transducers is accordingly proposed and experimentally verified. The cumulative SC pulse generated from primary GW tone-burst with a finite duration, is observed and verified numerically and experimentally. It is found that the magnitude of the generated SC pulse is linearly proportional to the quadratic material nonlinearity. Experimental results demonstrate that the generated SC pulse of GW under group velocity matching condition, is an effective means to assess the hygrothermal damage and low-velocity impact damage in CFRP composite plates. The performed experimental examination validates the feasibility of the proposed approach for damage assessment in CFRP composites.