The effect of crack geometry on the nondestructive fault detection in a composite beam

Abstract

Defects in structures may be inherited from materials and manufacturing or they develop during service. Defects may cause catastrophic failure, which is why their detection and classification are important issues. Many aspects of defects have already been dealt with, but with wider applications of non-destructive testing methods to composite materials. However, the effect of arbitrary and random defect geometry on the applicability of these methods has been overlooked. In order to investigate this issue, this study carries out a free vibration analysis of a specially orthotropic cracked cantilever beam that was manufactured by Pultrusion. A new crack model, unlike the widely known V-shaped crack, is introduced and the effect of crack depth on the natural frequency is investigated, both experimentally and numerically. The results obtained from both the new- and the V-shaped models are compared with each other, and it is revealed that the results are not sensitive to the geometry change.