On the Damage Sensitivity of Guided Wave SHM System Under Different Loading Conditions

Guided wave based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems are a reliable and non-invasive approach to monitor structures in several fields. They provide indication about the occurrence of damage, but their large-scale industrial application is still challenging due to some aspects such as the operating loads affecting the structures. Actually, equipping damage tolerant structures with SHM systems can allow the continuous monitoring providing several benefits in terms of conditioned maintenance and repairing operations. This paper presents a numerical modelling technique, based on the Finite Element (FE) method, for the simulation of guided waves in a composite panel affected by loads. Guided wave propagation mechanisms have been analyzed also on a loaded damaged configuration of the panel, in order to investigate the damage sensitivity of the proposed SHM system. The combination of both damage and load allowed considering a scenario closer to the operating conditions of the structure, providing a contribution towards the implementation of SHM in industrial applications.