Defect Detection in Composite Wind Turbine Blade Sandwich Panels Using Dispersion Characteristics of Stress Waves

To detect delamination and internal void defects within sandwich composite materials, such as those used in wind turbine blades, this study employs a Remote Impact Test (RIT), analyzing the dispersion characteristics of the generated stress waves. RITs were conducted on specimens that varied in both thickness and defect type. Time–frequency spectrograms and dispersion curves were then obtained using two time–frequency analysis techniques: wavelet analysis and reassigned spectrograms (derived from Short–Time Fourier Transformation). The accuracy of defect identification is demonstrably improved through the cross–examination of the findings from these methods.