Impact location on a stiffened composite panel using improved linear array

Due to the degradation of beamforming properties at angles close to 0 degrees to 180 degrees, linear array does not have a complete 180 degrees inspection range but a smaller one. This paper develops a improved sensor array with two additional sensors above and below the linear sensor array, and presents time difference and two dimensional multiple signal classification (2D-MUSIC) based impact localization for omni-directional localization on composite structures. Firstly, the arrival times of impact signal observed by two additional sensors are determined using the wavelet transform and compared, and the direction range of impact source can be decided in general, 0 degrees to 180 degrees or 180 degrees to 360 degrees. And then, 2D-MUSIC based spatial spectrum formula using uniform linear array is applied for locate accurate position of impact source. When the arrival time of impact signal observed by two additional sensors is equal, the direction of impact source can be located at 0 degrees or 180 degrees by comparing the first and last sensor of linear array. And then the distance is estimated by time difference algorithm. To verify the proposed approach, it is applied to a quasi-isotropic epoxy laminate plate and a stiffened composite panel. The results are in good agreement with the actual impact occurring position.