Lamb wave detection in prepreg composite materials with fibre Bragg grating sensors

This paper demonstrates that existing Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques have potential during the production phase in addition to their application for maintenance and for in-flight monitoring. Flaws occur during composite fabrication in industry, due to an imperfect process control and human errors. This decreases production efficiency and increases costs. In this paper, the monitoring of Lamb waves in unidirectional carbon fibre (UD-CFRP) prepreg material is demonstrated using both Fibre Bragg Gratings (FBG)s and piezolectric acoustic sensors, and that these SHM sensors may be used for flaw detection and production monitoring. The detection of Lamb waves in a one ply thick sheet of prepreg UD-CFRP material is demonstrated for an FBG sensor aligned with the carbon fibre orientation and bonded to the surface of the prepreg, Furthermore, the velocity of Lamb waves in prepreg UD-CFRP in different orientations is investigated. Finally the successful detection of a material crack in a prepreg UD-CFRP sheet using the Lamb wave detection method is demonstrated