Damage detection on composite beam under transverse impact using the Wave Finite Element method

Abstract In this paper, the Wave Finite Element (WFE) approach based on the finite element model and periodic structure theory, is extended in time domain to study the impact damage behavior of laminated composite structures. The targeted application is the damage detection of laminated E-glass/epoxy beam subjected to a transverse low velocity impact. The proposed strategy consist of a dynamic stress analysis using WFE approach and a damage analysis which is performed using Tsai–Wu quadratic failure and Hashin’s failure criteria. Numerical simulations and comparison with the classical finite element prediction were performed to verify the high accuracy of the present method which provides extremely accurate solutions with much smaller system size and lower computational cost.