Delamination Detection in Composite Laminates using a Vibration-Based Chaotic Oscillator Method

This work is aimed to study the delamination detection in composite laminates using a vibration-based method that incorporates a chaotic oscillator. Delamination is a typical damage that can occur in composite laminates, which can severely degrade their material properties. However, the traditional vibration-based methods are normally not sensitive enough to detect these delamination-type damages. With this consideration, a vibration-based method using a non-linear chaotic oscillator is proposed due to its sensitivity to the change in the vibration signal characteristics. A numerical model of composite laminates with delamination damage under impulse excitation is simulated and the vibration signal obtained from composite laminates is processed using the proposed chaotic oscillator method. The relationship between the Lyapunov Exponent (LE) feature and damage parameters, including the location and size of delamination, is investigated. It is found that there is a strong correlation between the delamination damages and the LE feature, particularly in relation to the location and size of delamination. The results show the potential of the proposed method for detection of other types of damages in composite laminates.