A time reversed guided wave method for bolt loosening detection of aerospace thermal protection system panels

Guannan Wu, Chao Xu, Fei Du, Weidong Zhu

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Thermal protection systems (TPS) plays a critical role to ensure the aerospace vehicle safety and structural integrity. In order to detect loosening failure in bolted joints of TPS at it initial stage, this paper developed a novel modified time reversed guided wave method. For the modified time reversal (MTR) method, the response signal due to a tone burst input receives at the healthy structure is time reversed and saves as referenced reemitting signal (RRS). The peak amplitude of the focused wave packet in the reconstructed signal is calculated and utilized as tightness index. By bonding PZT sensors at different locations of the structure, a tightness index vector TI can be defined by gathering tightness indices at each sensor in sequence. Each component of TI represents the correlation coefficient of the corresponding local structure to its healthy condition. Experiments at a simulated TPS panel are conducted to verify the feasibility of the MTR method for bolt loosening identification. Different bolt loosening cases are considered and repeating experiments have been done. Experiment results illustrates that the proposed MTR method can be used to identify and localize the bolt loosening in a simulated TPS panel. By analyzing the damage index vector TI, the loosening bracket can be localized.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials
PublisherAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA
ISBN (Print)9781624105326
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018
EventAIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, 2018 - Kissimmee, United States
Duration: 8 Jan 201812 Jan 2018

Publication series

NameAIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, 2018

Conference

ConferenceAIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityKissimmee
Period8/01/1812/01/18

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A time reversed guided wave method for bolt loosening detection of aerospace thermal protection system panels'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this