Predictive modeling of nonlinear wave propagation for structural health monitoring with piezoelectric wafer active sensors

This article presents predictive modeling of nonlinear guided wave propagation for structural health monitoring using both finite element method and analytical approach. In our study, the nonlinearity of the guided waves is generated by interaction with a nonlinear breathing crack. Two nonlinear finite element method techniques are used to simulate the breathing crack: (a) element activation/deactivation method and (b) contact analysis. Both techniques are available in ANSYS software package. The solutions obtained by these two finite element method techniques compare quite well. A parametric analytical predictive model is built to simulate guided waves interacting with linear/nonlinear structural damage. This model is coded into MATLAB, and the WaveFormRevealer graphical user interface is developed to obtain fast predictive waveform solutions for arbitrary combinations of sensor, structural properties, and damage. The predictive model is found capable of describing the nonlinear wave propagation phenomenon. This article finishes with summary and conclusions followed by recommendations for further work.