Implementation of Biomimicry for Detecting Composite Structure Damage Using Impedance-Based Non-Destructive Testing Method

Abstract

Up to date, biomimicry has aided in designing novel ideas and solving various problems in the field of civil engineering. For example, the concept of a load carrying process from a tree can be used to design an effective bridge. Inspired by nature, the authors have adopted the concept of how spiders use vibrations to monitor the state of the web and the presence of prey. A nondestructive testing method known as the electromechanical impedance technique has been proven to be effective when detecting local damage. However, the aforementioned technique uses a high frequency which results in a limited sensing range. Thus, to overcome this problem, an idea using the piezoelectric transducer combined with wires was introduced and tested against composite plates subjected to debonding damage. From the experiment results, the concept introduced from this research shows that biomimicry can increase the sensing range for electromechanical impedance technique which may allow one to create a monitoring system with minimal cost.

Keywords

• biomimicry
• piezoelectric transducer
• composite damage
• electromechanical impedance