Structural health monitoring in a composite beam using magnetostrictive material through a new FE formulation

A new finite element formulation was derived for structural health monitoring of laminated composite beam containing embedded magnetostrictive patches, which will act both as sensors and actuators. Coils are considered to activate patches and/or to sense the changes in stress in patches. When the actuator patch is excited dynamically by passing alternating current through the actuation coil, it introduces stress in the structure due to magneto-mechanical coupling effect, which in turn produce magnetic flux in the sensing patches. This magnetic flux generats open circuit voltage in the sensing coils. Measurement of open circuit voltage before and after the damage (delamination) occurence provides a diagnostic to indicate the presence of the damage. Numerical results have been obtained for one combination of actuator and sensor locations.