Damage assessment and ultimate failure strength prediction of composite laminates using acoustic emission monitoring

Abstract

Composite materials are among the stiffest, lightest and strongest newlinecorrosion-resistant materials known to man. The structural integrity of fiber newlinereinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials exhibit several damage newlinemechanisms that deteriorate their performance during operational conditions. newlineAny internal invisible damage in FRP composites can be detected and newlinequantified only by using non-destructive testing (NDT) methods. Acoustic newlineemission (AE) is a powerful technique in NDT methods and can be used for newlineassessment of the damage in FRP composite materials under in-service newlinecondition.The main objective of this research is to explore and investigate the newlinepotential of AE as a powerful tool in characterizing failure modes in newlinecomposite laminates and further investigate the indentation damage resistance newlinein composite laminates. The real-time AE data obtained during various newlineloading conditions of composite laminates were investigated using parametric newlineanalysis, unsupervised pattern recognition and advanced signal processing newlinetechnique. The effectiveness of AE as a better non-destructive technique has newlinebeen validated by prediction of the ultimate failure strength from the recorded newlineAE data newline newline