No abstract

Three blade-stiffened CFRP panels with co-cured stiffener webs, manufactured by means of an elastomeric mould, have been tested under compressive load. Several Bragg grating sensors have been surface bonded on two of the stiffened panels and have been embedded into the stiffener webs of the third panel. The Bragg grating sensors measured the strain distribution in the stiffener web and in the skin panels. The bucking onset was clearly detected in every case, the post-buckling behaviour can be tracked, but the information is heavily dependent on the right choice of the sensor position and the buckling mode. To calibrate the system, and to evaluate the influence of different curing pressures, and the use of unidirectional or fabric prepreg material, tensile test specimens were made on flat panels. The strain measurements provided by the optical fibre sensors in tensile tests were compared with the strain measurements provided by conventional clamp extensometers.

No abstract

We present an optical sensing methodology to estimate the fatigue damage state of structures made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), by measuring variations on the surface roughness. Variable amplitude loads (VAL), which represent realistic loads during aeronautical missions of fighter aircraft (FALSTAFF) have been applied to coupons until failure. Stiffness degradation and surface roughness variations have been measured during the life of the coupons obtaining a Pearson correlation of 0.75 between both variables. The data were compared with a previous study for Constant Amplitude Load (CAL) obtaining similar results. Conclusions suggest that the surface roughness measured in strategic zones is a useful technique for structural health monitoring of CFRP structures, and that it is independent of the type of load applied. Surface roughness can be measured in the field by optical techniques such as speckle, confocal perfilometers and interferometry, among others.

A strong knowledge of the fatigue state of highly advanced carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite (CFRP) structures is essential to predict the residual life and optimize intervals of structural inspection, repairs, and/or replacements. Current techniques are based mostly in measurement of structural loads throughout the service life by electric strain gauge sensors. These sensors are affected by extreme environmental conditions and by fatigue loads in such a way that the sensors and their systems require exhaustive maintenance throughout system life.This work is focused on providing a new technique to evaluate the fatigue state of CFRP structures by means of evaluating the surface roughness variation due to fatigue damage. The surface roughness is a property that can be measured in the field by optical techniques such as speckle and could be a useful tool for structural health monitoring. The relation between surface roughness and fatigue life has been assessed on CFRP test specimens. A tensile fatigue load with an R=0.1 (T-T) and a maximum load of 60% of the material ultimate strength has been applied. The surface roughness of the specimens has been determined from the surface topography measured by a high precision confocal microscope. Results show that the surface roughness of the specimens increases with the accumulation of fatigue cycles in such a way that the roughness could be taken into account as a fatigue damage metrics for CFRP.