Evaluation of barely visible indentation damage (BVID) in CF/EP sandwich composites using guided wave signals

Barely visible indentation damage after quasi-static indentation in sandwich CF/EP composites was assessed using ultrasonic guided wave signals. Finite element analyses were conducted to investigate the interaction between guided waves and damage, further to assist in the selection process of the Lamb wave sensitive modes for debonding identification. Composite sandwich beams and panels structures were investigated. Using the beam structure, a damage index was defined based on the change in the peak magnitude of the captured wave signals before and after the indentation, and the damage index was correlated with the residual deformation (defined as the depth of the dent), that was further correlated with the amount of crushing within the core. Both A(0) and S-0 Lamb wave modes showed high sensitivity to the presence of barely visible indentation damage with residual deformation of 0.2 mm. Furthermore, barely visible indentation damage was assessed in composite sandwich panels after indenting to 3 and 5 mm, and the damage index was defined, based on (a) the peak magnitude of the wave signals before and after indentation or (b) the mismatch between the original and reconstructed wave signals based on a time-reversal algorithm, and was subsequently applied to locate the position of indentation. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.