Methodology of prediction of residual strength of composite structures based on ultrasonic testing supported by numerical modeling

• Dates: 2018-2023
• Place: Silesian University of Technology
• PI: Angelika Wronkowicz
• Team: Andrzej Katunin, Wojciech Danek
• Cooperating staff: Krzysztof Dragan, Marko Nagode, Jernej Klemenc, Marek Wyleżoł, Sebastian Pawlak, Dawid Tutajewicz
• Funding source: National Science Centre, Poland

The aim of the research project was to develop a method enabling prediction of the residual life of composite elements, which can be given for instance as stress value that would cause sudden failure of the damaged element, based on scans obtained during UT and assessment of the structure’s condition by means of computer simulations. The effect of the project is the new experimentally verified methodology of predicting the residual strength of composite structures based on UT scans and numerical simulations. A new approach based on reverse engineering was developed, exploiting data extracted from ultrasonic scans of composite elements in order to create a CAD model of the element reflecting its current condition, including existing damage. The results obtained from numerical analysis bring information about the estimated residual strength of the tested composite element, which brings more information than the results obtained solely from UT.

Representative publications:

Katunin A., Danek W., Wronkowicz A., Dragan K., Methodology of residual strength prediction of composite structures with low-velocity impact damage based on NDT inspections and numerical-experimental CAI testing, International Journal of Impact Engineering 181, 2023, 104762.

Katunin A., Wronkowicz-Katunin A., Danek W., Wyleżoł M., Modeling of a realistic barely visible impact damage in composite structures based on NDT techniques and numerical simulations, Composite Structures 267, 2021, 113889.

Katunin A., Pawlak S., Wronkowicz-Katunin A., Tutajewicz D., Damage progression in fibre reinforced polymer composites subjected to low-velocity repeated impact loading, Composite Structures 225, 2020, 112735.

Katunin A., Wronkowicz-Katunin A., Dragan K., Impact damage evaluation in composite structures based on fusion of results of ultrasonic testing and X-ray computed tomography, Sensors 20(7), 2020, 1867.

Wronkowicz-Katunin A., Katunin A., Dragan K., Reconstruction of barely visible impact damage in composite structures based on non-destructive evaluation results, Sensors 19(21), 2019, 4629.