In-situ impact-induced damage assessment of woven composite laminates through a fibre Bragg grating sensor network

Abstract

Abstract Woven composite specimens with embedded fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensor networks were impacted at low velocities, while global measurements of contact forces and dissipated energies were obtained from drop tower measurements, and local residual, post-impact strain values were obtained from the FBG sensors. Critical damage events were identified in the global data for these specimens and damage signatures in the residual strain data corresponding to these critical damage events were correlated. The results indicate that the full spectral scan information from the sensor network, although obtainable at a lower scan rate, provide more reliable residual lifetime information than average residual strains.