Fatigue behaviour and structural health monitoring by acoustic emission of E-glass/epoxy laminates with piezoelectric implant

This paper represents the continuation of our research on built-in piezoelectric sensor for structural health monitoring of composite materials. Experimental research is focused on examining the effects of the embedded sensors on the structural integrity of composite laminates subjected to mechanical tests. A series of composite specimens with and without embedded sensor are tested in fatigue loading while constantly monitoring the response by acoustic emission technique. The acoustic signals are analysed using the classification k-means method in order to identify the different damage mechanisms and to follow the evolution of these mechanisms for both types of composite materials (with and without sensor). The mechanical behaviour of composites with and without embedded sensor shows no difference in the form. The incorporation of piezoelectric sensor causes low degradation of mechanical properties of composites. Comparing embedded sensor to sensor mounted on the surface, the embedded sensor showed a much higher sensitivity. It is thus verified that the embedded acoustic emission sensor had great potential for acoustic emission monitoring in fibre reinforced composite structures.