Prognosis of the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of a structure from Structural Health Monitoring data is the ultimate level in the SHM hierarchy. Reliable prognostics are key to a Condition Based Maintenance paradigm for aerospace systems and structures. In the present work, we propose a methodology for RUL prognosis of generic aeronautical elements i.e. single stringered composite panels subjected to compression/compression fatigue. Strain measurements are utilized in this direction via FBG sensors bonded to the stiffener feet. The strain data collected during the fatigue life are processed and used for the RUL prognosis. In order to accomplish this task, it is essential to produce Health Indicators (HIs) out of raw strain that can properly capture the degradation process. To create such HIs a new pre/post-processing technique is employed and a variety of different HIs are developed. The quality of the HIs can enhance the performance of the prognostic algorithms, hence a fusion methodology is proposed using genetic algorithms. The resulted fused HI is used for the RUL estimation of the SSCPs. Gaussian processes and Hidden Semi Markov Models are employed for RUL prognosis and their performance is compared. Despite the complexity the raw data we demonstrate the feasibility of successful RUL prognostics in a SHM-data driven approach.

An increasing interest for Structural Health Monitoring has emerged in the last decades. Acoustic emission (AE) is one of the most popular and widely studied methodologies employed for monitoring, due to its capabilities of detecting, locating and capturing the evolution of damage. Most literature so far, has employed AE for characterizing damage mechanisms and monitoring propagation, while only a few employ it for real time monitoring and even fewer for Remaining Useful Life (RUL) prognosis. In the present work, we demonstrate a methodology for leveraging AE recordings for prognostics of composite aerospace structures. Single stiffened CFRP panels are subjected to a variety of compressive fatigue loadings, while AE sensors monitor the panels’ degradation in real time. Several AE features, both from the time and frequency domains, are utilized to identify features capable of capturing the degradation and used as Health Indicators for RUL prognosis. The choice of Health Indicators is predominantly made based on three prognostic attributes, i.e. monotonicity, trend and prognosability, which can overall affect the prognostic performance. RUL prediction of the panels is performed by employing two prominent machine learning algorithms, i.e. Gaussian Process Regression and Artificial Neural Networks. It is evidenced that the proposed AE-based methodology is highly capable to be utilized for RUL prediction of composite structures under variable loading conditions.

We present a generic methodology for developing a Health Indicator out of strain-based Structural Health Monitoring data suitable for implementation in prognostic tasks. For this purpose, an in-house test campaign is launched. Single-stringered composite panels are subjected to compression-compression fatigue with the strains being monitored with Fiber Bragg Grating sensors located along the stringers’ feet. Three different fatigue scenarios with increased complexity are investigated i.e. constant amplitude fatigue, variable amplitude fatigue and finally random amplitude (spectrum) fatigue. In this paper, we propose a fusion scheme based on Genetic Algorithms, with the resulted fused Health Indicator achieving high monotonicity and prognosability, both crucial attributes for an enhanced performance of prognostic algorithms. Finally, a popular machine learning algorithm, i.e. Gaussian Process Regression, is employed in order to predict the Remaining Useful Life of the panels in the test set. It is evidenced that the newly proposed fused Health Indicator predicts the Remaining Useful Life far more accurately as several popular performance metrics indicate. The methodology retains a data agnostic character able to be applied in Structural Health Monitoring data from different sensing technologies.

Health indicators are indices that act as intermediary links between raw SHM data and prognostic models. An efficient HI should satisfy prognostic requirements such as monotonicity, trendability, and prognosability in such a way that it can be effectively used as an input in a prognostic model for remaining useful life estimation. However, discovering or designing a suitable HI for composite structures is a challenging task due to the inherent complexity of the evolution of damage events in such materials. Previous research has shown that data-driven models are efficient for accomplishing this goal. Large labeled datasets, however, are normally required, and the SHM data can only be labeled, respecting prognostic requirements, after a series of nominally identical structures are tested to failure. In this paper, a semi-supervised learning approach based on implicitly imposing prognostic criteria is adopted to design a novel HI suitable. To this end, single-stiffener composite panels were subjected to compression-compression fatigue loading and monitored using acoustic emission (AE). The AE data after signal processing and feature extraction were fused using a multi-layer LSTM neural network with criteria-based hypothetical targets to generate an intelligent HI. The results confirm the performance of the proposed scenario according to the prognostic criteria.

To move towards a condition-based maintenance practice for aircraft structures, design of reliable health management methodologies is required. Development of diagnostic methodologies is commonly realised on simplified sample structures with assumptions that methodologies can be adapted for application to realistic aircraft structures under in-service conditions. Yet such actual applications are not conducted. In this work, we study the development of diagnostic methodologies to training structures and their application to dissimilar testing structures. A heterogeneous population is considered, consisting of single-stiffener composite panels for methodology development and training and a multi-stiffener composite panel for application and testing. Characteristics as its composite material, lay-up, and temperature condition are constant while topologies and applied loads differ between the dissimilar structures. Damage in the structural panels is monitored on multiple diagnostic levels using a variety of structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques, including acoustic emission and distributed strain sensing. Specifically, we develop diagnostic methods for localising and monitoring disbond growth after impact using strain data collected during fatigue testing of multiple single-stiffener panels and apply these for disbond monitoring in an upscaled version of a multi-stiffener panel. In this manner, this study aids in the maturement and application of SHM methodologies to realistic aircraft structures.

In this paper we execute a complex test campaign to develop a novel methodology for the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) estimation of complex multi-stiffened composite aeronautical panels utilizing Machine Learning models trained with Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) data from hierarchically simpler elements, i.e., single-stiffened panels. Distributed Fiber Optical sensors (DFOS) are employed to monitor the panels’ behavior undergoing variable amplitude compression-compression fatigue after multiple impacts. A data processing methodology is first applied to the DFOS data, to both alleviate the effect of the variable loading conditions on the monitored strain and ease the computational burden. In this upscaling endeavor, an advanced strain-based Health Indicator (HI) based on Genetic algorithms, created and validated on the single-stiffened panel data, is utilized as the prognostic feature for the RUL estimations of the multi-stiffened panels. The HI displays favorable characteristics in terms of monotonicity and prognosability which are highly desirable for more accurate RUL estimations. For the prognostic task, standard machine learning models are trained using the historical degradation data of the single-stiffened panels and a similarity analysis is performed to enhance the accuracy when predicting the RUL of the multi-stiffened panels. Despite the increased structural complexity of the multi-stiffened panels, we demonstrate that the RUL is able to be predicted with reasonable accuracy. The present work paves the road for upscaling and applying prognostic methodologies to more complex structures beyond simple coupons or generic elements.

A health indicator (HI) is a valuable index demonstrating the health level of an engineering system or structure, which is a direct intermediate connection between raw signals collected by structural health monitoring (SHM) methods and prognostic models for remaining useful life estimation. An appropriate HI should conform to prognostic criteria, i.e., monotonicity, trendability, and prognosability, that are commonly utilized to measure the HI's quality. However, constructing such a HI is challenging, particularly for composite structures due to their vulnerability to complex damage scenarios. Data-driven models and deep learning are powerful mathematical tools that can be employed to achieve this purpose. Yet the availability of a large dataset with labels plays a crucial role in these fields, and the data collected by SHM methods can only be labeled after the structure fails. In this respect, semi-supervised learning can incorporate unlabeled data monitored from structures that have not yet failed. In the present work, a semi-supervised deep neural network is proposed to construct HI by SHM data fusion. For the first time, the prognostic criteria are used as targets of the network rather than employing them only as a measurement tool of HI's quality. In this regard, the acoustic emission method was used to monitor composite panels during fatigue loading, and extracted features were used to construct an intelligent HI. Finally, the proposed roadmap is evaluated by the holdout method, which shows a 77.3% improvement in the HI's quality, and the leave-one-out cross-validation method, which indicates the generalized model has at least an 81.77% score on the prognostic criteria. This study demonstrates that even when the true HI labels are unknown but the qualified HI pattern (according to the prognostic criteria) can be recognized, a model can still be built that provides HIs aligning with the desired degradation behavior.

With the increased use of composites in aircraft, many new successful contributions to the advancement of the structural health monitoring (SHM) field for composite aerospace structures have been achieved. Yet its application is still not often seen in operational conditions in the aircraft industry, mostly due to a gap between research focus and application, which constraints the shift towards improved aircraft maintenance strategies such as condition-based maintenance (CBM). In this work, we identify and highlight two key facets involved in the maturing of the SHM field for composite aircraft structures: (1) the aircraft maintenance engineer who requires a holistic damage assessment for the aircraft’s structural health management, and (2) the upscaling of the SHM application to realistic composite aircraft structures under in-service conditions. Multi-sensor data fusion concepts can aid in addressing these aspects and we formulate its benefits, opportunities, and challenges. Additionally, for demonstration purposes, we show a conceptual design study for a fusion-based SHM system for multi-level damage monitoring of a representative composite aircraft wing structure. In this manner, we present how multi-sensor data fusion concepts can be of benefit to the community in advancing the field of SHM for composite aircraft structures towards an operational CBM application in the aircraft industry.

The application of structural health monitoring (SHM) in composite airframe structural elements under long-term realistic fatigue loading needs to consider the structural behavior on the global level, which is an intricate task. The overall structural stiffness is a key design parameter for composite structures and the stiffness degradation under fatigue loading is closely related to the damage accumulation and failure mechanism which can be used as an indicator for the structural degradation. Therefore, this paper investigates the use of guided waves in axial stiffness degradation estimation for stiffened carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite panels under post-buckling compression-compression (C-C) fatigue loads. Impacted or artificially debonded stiffened composite panels are tested under fatigue until failure and guided waves are acquired using a network of piezoelectric (PZT) sensors at fixed cycle intervals. The guided wave phase velocity along the loading direction is extracted to estimate the axial stiffness degradation with the consideration of mode conversion and failure of PZT sensors. The estimated stiffness of five stiffened composite panels matches well with the stiffness calculated from the load–displacement curves. The estimated stiffness is also assessed using prognostic performance metrics and shows good potential for being used as a health indicator for prognostic purposes.

A case study is presented in which the first steps are made towards the development of a structural health monitoring (SHM) data fusion framework. For this purpose, a composite single-stiffener panel is subjected to compression-compression fatigue loading (R = 10). The carbon-epoxy panel contains an artificial disbond of 30 mm, which was created using a Teflon insert during manufacturing and placed between the skin and the stiffener foot. Under the applied fatigue load, the disbond is expected to grow and its propagation is monitored using two SHM techniques, namely acoustic emission (AE) and Rayleigh-scattering based distributed fiber optic strain sensing. Four AE sensors are placed on the skin, thereby allowing for disbond growth detection and localization. On each stiffener foot, fiber optic sensors are surface-bonded to monitor the growth of the disbond under the applied fatigue loading. The distributed strain measurements are used to localize and monitor the disbond growth. The strength of each technique is utilized by fusing the data from the AE sensors and the fiber optic sensors. In this manner, a data-driven approach is presented in which a data fusion of the different techniques allows for monitoring the damage in the stiffened panel on multiple SHM levels, including disbond growth detection and localization.

In order to reduce aircraft downtimes Condition-Based-Maintenance (CBM) is a topic gaining increased popularity in recent years. However, to apply such maintenance policies reliable health monitoring techniques should be implemented. Two state of the art monitoring techniques, namely Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) and Acoustic Emission (AE) are used to monitor the fatigue behavior of single stiffened composite panels (SSCPs) subjected to variable amplitude compression-compression (C-C) fatigue. Advanced features, called Health indicators (HIs) are extracted from the raw sensor data to monitor the degradation behavior. It is crucial to have robust and reliable HIs that capture the degradation of the structures. This work focuses on providing capable HIs for monitoring degradation of composite structures.

Real-time Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of aeronautical structural components is a technology persistently investigated the last years by researchers and engineers to potentially reduce the cost and/or implementation of scheduled maintenance tasks. To this end, various types of sensors have been proposed to serve this role, e.g. piezoelectric, acoustic emission, and strain sensors. In the present paper, a strain-based SHM methodology is proposed for skin/stringer disbond propagation health monitoring. Fiber-optic strain sensors with engraved Bragg gratings are utilized in order to evaluate the propagation of artificially-induced disbonds at single-stringered composite panels. The specimens are subjected to a block loading compression-compression fatigue spectrum. Longitudinal static strains are periodically acquired during quasi-static loadings every 500 cycles. A Health Indicator (HI), based on strains received from the stringer’s feet, is proposed and utilized to monitor the disbond growth. The evolution of this indicator is experimentally monitored throughout the lifespan of the specimens. The present paper verifies and consolidates via actual fatigue experiments the potential of the proposed static-strain based HI developed from numerical data in our previous work.

The development of health indicators (HI) of diagnostic and prognostic potential from generally uninformative raw sensor data is both a challenge and an essential feature for data‐driven diagnostics and prognostics of composite structures. In this study, new damage‐sensitive features, developed from strains acquired with Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) and acoustic emission (AE) data, were investigated for their suitability as HIs. Two original fatigue test campaigns (constant and variable amplitude) were conducted on single‐stringer composite panels using appropriate sensors. After an initial damage introduction in the form of either impact damage or artificial disbond, the panels were subjected to constant and variable amplitude compression–compression fatigue tests. Strain sensing using FBGs and AE was employed to monitor the damage growth, which was further verified by phased array ultrasound. Several FBGs were incorporated in special SMARTapes™, which were bonded along the stiffener’s feet to measure the strain field, whereas the AE sensors were strategically placed on the panels’ skin to record the acoustic emission activity. HIs were developed from FBG and AE raw data with promising behaviors for health monitoring of composite structures during service. A correlation with actual damage was attempted by leveraging the measurements from a phased array camera at several time instances throughout the experiments. The developed HIs displayed highly monotonic behaviors while damage accumulated on the composite panel, with moderate prognosability.