An Embedded Ultrasonic Guided Wave Sensing System for Real Time Health Monitoring of Composite Armor Structures

There currently exists a need to develop new technologies for real time structural health monitoring (SHM) of composite armor panels on ground vehicles in order to inform decision makers on board or at remote locations as to the severity of damage that may occur. FBS, Inc. proposes the development of an embedded ultrasonic guided wave sensing technology capable of detecting and characterizing ballistic damage to composite armor structures. The guided wave sensors can be embedded in the composite panels during manufacture and used during field deployment to detect an impact event and then determine the location and size of the resulting damage. Key to the development and optimization of the monitoring system is the development of sensors based on a theoretical understanding of the guided wave mode selection possibilities in these complex structures. The Phase II work will build off of the Phase I work, where both modeling and experimentation were used to show excellent potential for detecting and characterizing ballistic damage in representative panels. The focus of the Phase II work effort will be to optimize ballistic damage characterization which will be achieved by theoretically driven sensor designs aimed at optimizing guided wave penetration power and damage detection sensitivity.