This work presents the introduction and experimental investigation of an active-sensing acousto-ultrasound structural health monitoring approach for damage size quantification based on piezoelectric sensors/actuators mounted on multiple seemingly identical structural components. The objective of this work is to determine how reliable the damage diagnostics can be from one component to another similar (nominally identical) component using surface-mounted PZT (lead zirconate titanate) sensors/actuators, and also to evaluate how sensitive a sensor network configuration in terms of the number of sensors/actuators is with respect to its detection reliability. Extensive crack growth experiments on multiple identical coupons outfitted with the same sensor network configuration under cyclic loads were conducted to assess the damage quantification reliability from one coupon to another using the same diagnostic algorithm. The results of the study indicate that the crack size estimates obtained from the active-sensing structural health monitoring system can vary within the population of identical structural components (coupons), but the difference in quantifying damage among coupons decreases with the increase in the number of sensors and actuators used, that is, wave propagation paths. Furthermore, it is shown that the diagnostic results in terms of damage quantification converge with the increase in the number of sensors. The results of the study indicate that the diagnostic approach using a multi-path sensor network can reduce the damage quantification error from one component to another within a “hotspot” configuration (damage location is known or suspected a priori). Finally, the results of this study indicate that the more wave propagation paths used in the diagnostic active-sensing algorithm, the more reliable the damage quantification results are, provided that the same sensor network is used and installed at nominally identical locations for all coupons.

中文翻译：

---

使用表面安装的 PZT 执行器/传感器通过声-超声主动传感结构健康监测进行裂纹量化的可靠性

这项工作介绍了基于压电传感器/致动器安装在多个看似相同的结构部件上的用于损伤尺寸量化的主动传感声超声结构健康监测方法的介绍和实验研究。这项工作的目的是确定使用表面安装的 PZT（锆钛酸铅）传感器/执行器从一个组件到另一个类似（名义上相同）组件的损坏诊断的可靠性，并评估传感器网络配置的敏感程度传感器/执行器的数量与其检测可靠性有关。在循环载荷下，对配备相同传感器网络配置的多个相同试样进行了广泛的裂纹扩展实验，以使用相同的诊断算法评估从一个试样到另一个试样的损坏量化可靠性。研究结果表明，从主动传感结构健康监测系统获得的裂纹尺寸估计值在相同结构部件（试样）的群体内可能会有所不同，但试样之间量化损坏的差异随着试样数量的增加而减小。使用的传感器和执行器，即波的传播路径。此外，表明损伤量化方面的诊断结果随着传感器数量的增加而收敛。研究结果表明，使用多路径传感器网络的诊断方法可以减少“热点”配置内从一个组件到另一个组件的损坏量化误差（损坏位置是已知的或先验怀疑的）。最后，这项研究的结果表明，诊断主动传感算法中使用的波传播路径越多，损坏量化结果就越可靠，前提是使用相同的传感器网络并将其安装在所有试样的名义上相同的位置。