Impact damage localization and mode identification of CFRPs panels using an electric resistance change method

Electric resistance change method (ERCM) has shown potential as a good candidate for performing in-situ damage sensing in carbon fiber reinforced plastic composites (CFRPs), however, studies that investigated the impact damage localization and mode identification of CFRPs were limited. This paper investigates a novel ERCM technique for damage localization and mode identification in CFRPs under normal impact load with energies of 50 and 80 J. The impact damage characteristics of the CFRPs were firstly analyzed, and the corresponding electrical resistance was measured. A damage localization algorithm was designed according to the resistance characteristics obtained by the theoretical calculation and simulation. A relationship between CFRPs thickness and the electrical resistance was built, and damage modes were analyzed with assistance of computed tomography observations. Results show that the electric resistance changes between electrode networks could be used to help imaging the damage positions with a very high accuracy (6% error). The linear relationship between the electrical resistance, incident energy, and the panel thickness could be adopted to predict the damage modes in CFRPs after impact.