Damage Detection Using Stress Waves and Multivariate Statistics: an Experimental Case Study of an Aircraft Component

The work will focus on generating statistical models of the normal condition based on the ultrasonic-guided wave response of the selected specimens and testing for novelty in subsequently acquired signals. Novelty refers to any computed Mahalanobis squared distance that exceed the appropriate threshold value diagnosed as having the damaged state of the structure. While the study proved extremely successful, with cuts of 1 mm diagnosed unambiguously, it was mainly of interest from the point of algorithm development as the specimen concerned bore only a vague resemblance to the sort of components which would comprise a real structure.