Microdamage and optical signal analysis of impact-induced fracture in smart structures

Andrew K. Tay; Dale A. Wilson; A. Caner Demirdogen; J. Richard Houghton; Robert Lee Wood

doi:10.1117/12.24844

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1 December 1990 Microdamage and optical signal analysis of impact-induced fracture in smart structures

Andrew K. Tay, Dale A. Wilson, A. Caner Demirdogen, J. Richard Houghton, Robert Lee Wood

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Proceedings Volume 1370, Fiber Optic Smart Structures and Skins III; (1990) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.24844
Event: SPIE Microelectronic Interconnect and Integrated Processing Symposium, 1990, San Jose, United States

Abstract

The recent growth and interest in manufacturing and designing of health-monitoring, light-weight smart graphite/epoxy composite structures has generated a need for better understanding of the behavior of such materials in a severe structural environment. This paper reports on the damage of a smart structure caused by hail impact and tool-drop impact. Both types of impact were simulated and the resulting damage was investigated. These forms of impact are considered to represent the states of low mass and intermediate velocity and high mass and low velocity. The failure mechanisms of delamination and crack initiation due to successive impact damage were analyzed based on the signal variations produced by optical fiber sensors and microdamage evaluation. Microscopic examination of an impact smart graphite/epoxy composite structure reveals that the initiation of cracks and delamination did not occur in the high local strain near optical fiber. A very important contribution of this work is that two distinct types of single/multimode optical fiber sensors, straight and serpentine, were employed in each impact test. The level of sensitivity from each type of optical fiber sensor was evaluated. Comparison of the sensitivity concluded that the serpentine design of an optical fiber sensor produced significantly better results upon impact with respect to the straight fiber sensor.

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Andrew K. Tay, Dale A. Wilson, A. Caner Demirdogen, J. Richard Houghton, and Robert Lee Wood "Microdamage and optical signal analysis of impact-induced fracture in smart structures", Proc. SPIE 1370, Fiber Optic Smart Structures and Skins III, (1 December 1990); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.24844

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