Damage Assessment in Composite Structures

Damage detection and assessment is an integral part of the design and management of composite (fiber-reinforced) structures, which are used in a wide range of engineering areas, but in particular in the aerospace and marine/offshore industries. To best undertake such assessment and detection, a holistic approach is required, which brings together an understanding of the damage mechanics of composite materials, and the use of sensing techniques such as signal processing, and pattern recognition to detect and characterise damage. This authoritative reference provides a synthesis of the development in the fields of Condition Monitoring (CM), Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE), which until now have been developed independently of one another.