Passive high-speed impact damage assessment in composite panels using embedded piezoelectric sensors

A novel damage parameter-based technique to passively assess the extent of delamination in a composite panel subjected to high-speed impact is presented. This damage parameter uses measurements obtained from a network of piezoelectric sensors embedded in a fiber glass composite panel to estimate the energy of the first impact-induced wave to arrive at the location of the sensor. This damage parameter is experimentally shown to correlate to the impact speed, absorbed energy, and to the extent of delamination damage in the material. The technique is tested for both penetrating and non-penetrating impacts. The damage parameter corrects for wave attenuation and dispersion due to distance of the sensor from the impact location and due to anisotropic absorption.