Work

Real-Time Damage Detection in an Airplane Wing During Wind Tunnel Testing Under Realistic Flight Conditions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: A real-time structural health monitoring (SHM) system of an airplane composite wing with adjustable damage is reported, where testing under realistic flight conditions is carried out in the controllable and repeatable environment of an industrial wind tunnel. An FBG-based sensing array monitors a debonded region, whose compromised structural strength is regained by a set of lockable fasteners. Damage tunability is achieved by loosening some of or all these fasteners. Real-time analysis of the data collected involves Principal Component Analysis, followed by Hotelling’s T-squared and Q measures. With previously set criteria, real-time data collection and processing software can declare the structural health status as normal or abnormal. During testing, the system using the Q measure successfully identified the initiation of the damage and its extent, while the T-squared one returned limited outcomes.

Source: Sensors

DOI: 10.3390/s25144423

Authors: Yoav Ofir, Uri Ben-Simon, Shay Shoham, Iddo Kressel, Bernardino Galasso, Umberto Mercurio, Antonio Concilio, Gianvito Apuleo, Jonathan Bohbot, Moshe Tur

Institutions: Israel Aerospace Industries (Israel), Italian Aerospace Research Centre, Piaggio Aerospace (Italy), Tel Aviv University

Language: English

Topic: Structural Health Monitoring Techniques

Subfield: Civil and Structural Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,137

OpenAlex ID: W4412472397

FWCI: 0.374

Cites: 33

Cited by: 1

Related to: 10