Linear and Nonlinear Ultrasonic Detections of Impact Damage in Composite Laminate

The appearance and accumulation of internal impact damage seriously influence overall performance of carbon fiber reinforced plastic(CFRP).Thus,this study evaluates the change in impact damage number by using linear and nonlinear ultrasonic Lamb wave detection methods,and compares these two detection results.An ultrasonic wave simulation model for composite structure with impact damage is established using the finite element method,and the interaction between impact damage and the ultrasonic wave is simulated.Simulation results demonstrate that the ultrasonic amplitude linearly decreases,and the relative nonlinear parameter linearly increases in proportion to the impact number,respectively.The linear-fitting slope of nonlinear parameter is 0.38 per impact number at an input frequency of 1.0 MHz.It is far higher than that of the linear ultrasonic amplitude,which is only-0.12.However,with the increase of impact damage,the linear growth of nonlinear parameters mainly depends on the decrease in ultrasonic amplitude rather than the accumulation of second harmonic amplitude.In the linear ultrasonic amplitude detection,the linear fitting slope at 1.1 MHz is-0.14,which is lower than those at 0.9 MHz and 1.0 MHz.Meanwhile,in the nonlinear ultrasonic parameter detection,the linear fitting slope at 1.1 MHz is 0.92,which is higher than those at 0.9 MHz and 1.0 MHz.The results show that higher frequencies lead to greater attenuation of ultrasonic amplitude and a larger increase in nonlinear parameters,which can enhance the sensitivity of both linear and nonlinear ultrasonic detections.The accuracy of simulation results is demonstrated through the low-velocity impact and ultrasonic experiments.The results show that compared with nonlinear ultrasonic technology,the linear ultrasonic technology is more suitable for impact damage assessment of carbon fiber reinforced plastic because of its simpler detection process and higher sensitivity.