Impact damage location in composite structures using optimized sensor triangulation procedure

Impacts, which may occur during manufacture, service or maintenance, are the major cause of in-service damage to composite structures. Many investigations have been undertaken in order to assess and locate impact damage. A new method of impact location in composite materials is proposed in this paper. It based on a classical sensor triangulation methodology and combines experimental strain wave velocity analysis with an optimization genetic algorithm procedure. The method is validated on a composite panel with embedded piezoceramic sensors. The paper shows that the new method has potential for effective impact damage location. Strain data from only three piezoceramic sensors provide good impact location results, avoiding learning and modelling difficulties associated with other techniques.