Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Truss structure integrity identification using PZT sensor-actuator

Conference ·
OSTI ID:395240
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA (United States). Center for Intelligent Material Systems and Structures

This paper presents a frequency domain impedance-signature-based technique for health monitoring of an assembled truss structure. Unlike conventional modal analysis approaches, the technique uses piezoceramic (PZT) elements as integrated sensor-actuators for acquisition of signature pattern of the truss. The concept of the localization of sensing/actuation area for damage detection of an assembled structure is presented for the first time. Through a PZT patch bonded to a truss node and the measurement of its electric admittance, which is coupled with the mechanical impedance of the truss, the signature pattern of a truss is monitored. The admittance of a truss in question is compared with that of the original healthy truss. Statistic algorithm is then applied to extract a damage index of the truss based on the signature pattern difference. Experimental proof that over a selected band, the detection range of a bonded PZT sensor on a truss is highly constrained to its immediate neighborhood is presented. This characteristic allows accurate determination of the damage location in a complex real-world structure with a minimum mathematical modeling and numerical computation.

OSTI ID:
395240
Report Number(s):
CONF-940691--; ISBN 1-56676-171-9
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English