Predictive Model-Assisted Guided Wave Structural Health Monitoring
Abstract
Our research objective is to enable guided wave monitoring for inaccessible, complex geometric structures. These systems have a significant potential to improve the sustainability and survivability of United States Air Force aircraft and munitions. However, current guided wave structural health monitoring systems are designed for simple geometric structures, such as large, rectangular plates. Aircraft and other structures are more geometrically complex and contain common structural elements, including fasteners and stiffeners that complicate wavefields. Complexity is one of the Air Forces foundational challenges for creating enhanced damage detection systems. Numerical simulations have helped us to understand wave propagation in complex structures. Yet, these simulations rarely match experimental data. As a result, these simulations cannot significantly improve data analysis. We address this technical gap by integrating large numerical guided wave models with experimental data to predict wave propagation and to exploit geometric complexities for damage localization and characterization. Our approach is fundamentally different from previous work because our algorithms require no explicit parameterizations (e.g., Youngs modulus, temperature, etc.) that restrict models to very specific solutions. We instead exploit the sparse, modal representations of waves that implicitly describe parameters. Funds have been used to support students that conduct this research and the principal investigator that directs this research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 27, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1230426
Entities
People
- Cynthia Furse
Organizations
- University of Utah