International Journal of Aerospace and Lightweight Structures

doi: 10.3850/S2010428615100102

Detecting Impact Damage in Composite Materials Using Microwave Patch Antennas

Haiying Huang^1,a, Jun Yao², and Brian Shonkwiler^{1 1}Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, 500 W. First Street, WH211, Arlington, TX 76019, USA. ^ahuang@uta.edu ²Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA.

ABSTRACT

We performed preliminary studies to evaluate the capability of the microstrip patch antennas for detecting impact damage in composite plates. Assuming the composite plate is a part of the antenna substrate, numerical simulations were carried out to evaluate the effect of the dielectric loss changes on the radiation characteristics of the antenna sensor. The simulated results were quantitatively validated by impact tests. In addition, delamination between the antenna pattern and the composite material was also found to significantly change the antenna resonant frequency. These results confirm that microstrip patch antennas can serve as impact damage detection sensors for composite materials.

Keywords: Antenna sensor, microstrip patch antenna, composites, carbon fiber reinforced plastic, impact damage, delamination, dielectric loss.

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