Arrays of Conformable Ultrasonic Lamb Wave Transducers for Structural Health Monitoring with Real-time Electronics

Many reusable components of aerospace structures are manufactured with composite materials, like carbon fiber overwrapped metal vessels (COPV). Ultrasonic Lamb waves are commonly used to monitor these components. Damage caused by impacts or due to the mechanical stress suffered by high pressure vessels required an innovative approach for structural health monitoring (SHM) using ultrasonic transducers. This work describes the design and development of a system that uses arrays of conformable piezoelectric interdigital transducers (IDTs) connected to a custom data acquisition system for real-time monitoring of a COPV.