Modelling and Numerical Simulations of Vibrothermography for Impact Damage Detection in Composites Structures

The paper investigates modelling aspects related to application of vibrothermography for detection of barely visible impact damage in composite structures. Low-velocity impact tests were performed to introduce multiple delaminations into carbon/epoxy composite plate. Damage severity was revealed using well-established non-destructive evaluation techniques. Vibrothermography was used subsequently to show good agreement with classical damage detection techniques. Following these experimental investigations, numerical simulations were performed to assess feasibility and sensitivity of vibrothermography for impact damage detection. Numerical results were validated using experimental data showing very good qualitative and encouraging quantitative agreement. The study demonstrates that virtual impact damage detection using vibrothermography can be performed as part of structural design to assess sensitivity of the method in real engineering applications.