Overview
The goals of the call were achieved by means of a “multilevel” approach, combining local damage propagation mechanisms with guided waves propagation modelling, and designing a dedicated optimisation methodology aimed at finding the best actuators/sensors positioning in order to enhance the tool sensitivity to forecasted impact damages.
The final results were a numerical tool (or a family of tools) developed in high level programming language and capable of driving commercial codes (F.E. codes like MSC/NASTRAN ad LS-DYNA) within an optimisation strategy. The consortium was made by two SMEs and the Department of Structural and Transportation Engineering of the University of Padova; the partners include all the needed expertise in the fields of numerical simulation (explicit and implicit F.E.) described above, as well as in the field of Structural Health Monitoring approaches based on guided waves and optimization tools. The production of GFR Panels were supplied by external subcontracting to a primary supplier of composite structural components for aeronautical use.
Within the NDE techniques special attention was dedicated to the ‘virtual implementation’ of a novel damage detection method based on the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition.