Laser vibrometry for guided wave propagation phenomena visualisation and damage detection

This paper presents research on the damage localization method. The method is based on guided wave propagation phenomena. The investigation was focused on application of this method to monitor the condition of structural elements such as aluminium or composite panels. These elements are commonly used in aerospace industry and it is crucial to provide a methodology to determine their condition, in order to prevent from unexpected and dangerous collapse of a structure. Propagating waves interact with cracks, notches, rivets, thickness changes, stiffeners and other discontinuities present in structural elements. It means that registering these waves one can obtain information about the structure condition—whether it is damaged or not. Furthermore these methods can be applied not only to aerospace structures but also to wind turbine blades and pipelines. In reported investigation piezoelectric transducer was used to excite guided waves in considered panel. Measurement of the wave field was realized using lase...