Dynamics of Structures with Piezoelectric Sensors and Actuators for Structural Health Monitoring

Abstract

The dynamic analysis of structures with piezoelectric sensors and actuators is used in this paper to establish a method for crack detection in aerospace structures. Piezoelectric strips used as sensors and actuators are bonded on both sides of a thin structure which executes flexural oscillations. The differential voltage outputs of the piezoelectric sensors are used to detect the presence of cracks in the structure. The structural analysis uses a finite element formulation for the piezoelectric strips coupled with the structure and a nonlinear model for the cracks. This paper presents first the results of the dynamic analysis in the frequency domain of healthy and cracked plates undergoing forced flexural vibrations generated by a pair of piezoelectric actuators submitted to an oscillatory voltage excitation. The peaks in the differential voltage output obtained in the case of a cracked plate at several frequencies during the frequency sweep were found to be indicative measures for the presence of a crack in the structure. The results of the dynamic analysis in the time domain have also shown that this method has a good sensitivity in detecting cracks in the structures.

Effect of piezoelectric patch on natural frequencies of Timoshenko beam made of functionally graded material

“…Wang et al [24] revealed an effect of a piezoelectric patch bonded to a beam on natural frequency of the beam and demonstrated an interesting fact that piezoelectric patch used as an actuator could restore the healthy condition of a cracked beam. Mateescu et al [25] presented a method for crack detection in beam and plate using piezoelectric sensors bonded on both sides of the structures.…”

Crack identification of functionally graded beam using distributed piezoelectric sensor

“…This improves sensitivity of natural frequencies to crack and thus enhances crack identification by the frequency-based method. Mateescu et al (2007) used piezoelectric sensors and actuators with applied voltages to detect a breathing crack in cantilever beam and found that high natural frequencies are more sensitive to crack. The so-called Electro-Mechanical Impedance (EMI) method was developed in Ritdumrongkul and Fujino (2007), Wang et al (2015), and Wang et al (2020) for crack identification in beam.…”

Modal analysis of cracked beam with a piezoelectric layer

“…Piezoelectric material was employed first as sensor/actuator for structural control [1][2][3][4] and then it has got an effective use for structural health monitoring [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and repairing damaged structures [12][13][14][15][16][17]. Using piezoelectric material for controlling or monitoring structural behavior is essentially leading to analysis of the structures with piezoelectric components such as beams or plates with layers or patches.…”