On the use of strain sensor technologies for strain modal analysis: Case studies in aeronautical applications

This paper discusses the use ofoptical fiberBragg grating(FBG) and piezo strainsensors for structural dynamicmeasurements. For certain industrial applications, there is an interest to use strainsensors rather than in combination with accelerometers for experimentalmodal analysis. Classical electrical strain gauges can be used hereto, but other types of strainsensors are an interesting alternative with some very specific advantages. This work gives an overview of two types of dynamic strainsensors, applied to two industrial applications (ahelicopter main rotor blade and an F-16aircraft),FBGsensors and dynamic piezo strainsensors, discussing their use and benefits. Moreover, the concept of strainmodal analysis is introduced and it is shown how it can be beneficial to applystrain measurements to experimentalmodal analysis. Finally, experimental results for the two applications are shown, with an experimentalmodal analysis carried out on thehelicopter main rotor blade usingFBGsensors and a similar experiment is done with theaircraft but using piezo strainsensors instead.

Source: Review of Scientific Instruments - October 25, 2016 Category: Physics Authors: F ábio Luis Marques dos Santos and Bart Peeters Source Type: research