Novel approach to damage detection in laminated structures: modal damping as a damage indicator

This paper provides a general overview of the author’s Ph.D. research. It emphasizes the criticality of damage detection in composite materials, focusing on interlaminar delamination. It introduces vibration-based non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques and modal damping analysis as a novel damage indicator and highlights their real-time capabilities and sensitivity to subtle defects. Numerical modeling benefits and challenges in understanding modal damping behavior are discussed. The review covers research on modal damping modeling, its application in detecting interlaminar delamination, and composite defect simulation. The findings of the presented study provide insights into delamination behavior and its impact on structural integrity. Overall, this work highlights the effectiveness of vibration-based NDT and numerical modeling for enhanced structural health monitoring and material safety.