Contact acoustic nonlinearity and damping properties of completely free vibrating curved and delaminated CFRP plates

Abstract

This study reports an experimental investigation on the effect of plate curvature and circular inter-ply delamination on the completely free vibration properties of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates. Impact tests on wire suspended plates were performed and variations in measured natural frequencies and modal damping are reported. Delamination clapping type contact acoustic nonlinearity (CAN) was observed in the presence of a series of higher harmonics in the vibration spectrum. These higher harmonics consisted of five to seven equally distanced peaks grouped in a frequency range of around the double of odd mode M (5,0). Modal damping was highly sensitive to delamination which caused a 33% average increase in damping loss factors. Odd mode M (3,0) was the most affected with an average increase of 51% in damping loss factor, explained by the delamination location relative to the wavelength of that mode shape. Natural frequencies were less sensitive to delamination, on average decreasing 1.0% in flat plates and increasing 3.1% in curved plates. The modal frequencies calculated from embedded fiber optic sensor (FOS) or electrical resistance strain gauge signals agreed with finite element modeling (FEM) to within a 3.1% difference for all modes considered. The damping loss factors deducted from suspended plate tests were consistent with complementary results from dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The measured delamination clapping CAN and its related influence on damping can serve to enhance structural health monitoring (SHM) methods.