Local high edge observation for the bonding line monitoring of a complex composite beam

Abstract

The most part of defects in composite structures carrying attached subelements is the disbond at the interface, as the skin/stringer sections. This is sometimes due to a nonoptimal manufacturing process or sometimes due to accidental object impacts during service. It has been verified that structural discontinuities within an elastic medium under mechanical loads can cause analogous discontinuities within the strain field. Starting from this analysis, the present work investigates the effect of artificially induced kissing bond areas just at the in the skin–stiffener interface of an aeronautical complex composite beam. This research uses longitudinal strain values, acquired at the locations where distributed fiber optic sensors are installed. The applied methodology uses different strain-based features providing local high edge observation both in time and spatial domains. Their autocorrelations are, in the end, computed to improve signal-to-noise ratio. The local high edge observation algorithm is proposed that proves its capability to monitor disbond being at the same time load and baseline independent.