Damage detection of surface cracks in composite laminates using modal analysis and strain energy method

This paper presents an approach to detect surface cracks in various composite laminates. Carbon/epoxy composite AS4/PEEK was used to fabricate laminated plates, [0]16, [90]16, [(0/90)4]S and [±45/0/90]2S. Surface crack damage was created on one side of the plate using a laser cutting machine. Modal analysis was performed to obtain the mode shapes from both experimental and finite element analysis results. The mode shapes were then used to calculate strain energy using the differential quadrature method (DQM). Consequently, the strain energies of laminated plates before and after damaged were used to define a damage index which successfully identified the surface crack location.