A hierarchical impact force reconstruction method for aerospace composites

This research work presents a hierarchical method able to reconstruct the time history of the impact force on a composite wing stringer-skin panel by using the structural responses measured by a set of surface bonded ultrasonic transducers. Time reversal method was used to identify the impact location by the knowledge of structural responses recorded from a set of excitation points arbitrarily chosen on the plane of the structure. Radial basis function interpolation approach was then used to calculate the transfer function at the impact point and reconstruct the impact force history. Experimental results showed the high level of accuracy of the proposed impact force reconstruction method for a number of low-velocity impact sources and energies.