Multi-method structural health monitoring concept for pinned hybrid joints

Description

Large civil aircraft structures underlie strict design requirements such as damage tolerance to ensure safety during flight operation. When it comes to the joining of components of such structures, there is still not much confidence in the process of adhesive bonding. Thus, rivets and bolts are commonly used, despite the advent of more diverse material combinations used and the inherent weight penalty of above-mentioned conventional joining techniques in the aviation industry. To overcome the issues of classical structural bonding, the adhesive joint between metal and fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) can be supported by additively manufactured metallic pins which protrude into the composite material, resulting in so-called pinned hybrid joints. These pins enhance the joint's strength and damage tolerance compared to classical adhesive bonding while being more lightweight than mechanical fastening. However, numerous uncertainties from scattering material properties to sensible manufacturing processes remain. Structural health monitoring (SHM) of pinned hybrid joints may reduce these uncertainties significantly and guarantee the joint's integrity. The present work proposes a new multi-method SHM concept for pinned hybrid joints that applies piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) and electric contacting of the structure itself for sensing and a partly shared cable network. Thereby enabling various active and passive methods at low cabling effort. Possible methods and their features concerning sensing capability, self-diagnosis, evaluation reliability, installation location, and additional electrical contacting of the monitored structure are discussed with respect to their combined application potential and challenges.

Period	14 Mar 2023
Event title	SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation
Event type	Conference
Location	United StatesShow on map