Impact Force Identification of CFRP Laminated Plates Using PZT Piezoelectric Sensors (1st Report, Identification Method and Numerical Simulation)

The information of impact force acting on composite structures is useful in assessment of their integrity. In this paper, an identification method of impact force acting on CFRP plates is presented. First, a relationship between a force history and the induced strain responses is formulated based on the finite element method. For identifying force location, two methods are presented in this paper. The first method uses an optimization procedure with a reciprocal relationship of strain responses. In the second method, minimizing an error between measured strain responses and analytical ones gives a true force location. The force history identification can be achieved by solving an inverse problem where a penalty on the force history is imposed. Finally, the present method is verified through numerical simulations using CFRP laminated square plates with embedded PZT piezoelectric sensors. According to the results of impact force identification, the validity of the present method is verified.