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The laminated composites have many advantages such as high specific strength and specific stiffness. Despite of these advantages, they are prone to different damage mechanisms. This paper focuses on quantification of damage mechanisms in standard Open-Hole Tensile (OHT) laminated composites using Acoustic Emission (AE) and Finite Element Method (FEM). These damages include three main mechanisms, matrix cracking, fiber/ matrix debonding and fiber breakage. To this aim, OHT tests were carried out. The specimens fabricated from two types of glass/epoxy composite materials with [0]5S lay-up and [90]5S lay-up. AE accompanied with wavelet-based approach was then used to detect and quantify damage mechanisms of the specimens. FE analysis based on Hashin criteria was then utilized to simulate the damage mechanisms in the specimens and to validate the AE-wavelet based results. The comparison of applied methods show that the results of the AE-wavelet based approach are in very good agreement with the FEM results. Finally, it was concluded that the AE method has a good applicability to determine the damage mechanisms in laminated composite structures and to predict the remaining life-time of the structure.

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One of the main issues associated with application of laminated composites in industrial applications is their brittle-type behavior under impact loading. The low velocity impact may lead to crucial internal damages without being detectable by visual inspection and can significantly reduce the strength of laminated composites. The main purpose of this research is to characterize the damage mechanisms in laminated composites under low velocity impact tests. For this purpose, a quasi-static test was first utilized out to achieve initial information about impact tests. Low velocity impact tests were then employed for unidirectional glass/epoxy composite specimens, and Acoustic Emission (AE) signals were acquired during impact events. Next, AE signals were examined using wavelet approach to discriminate released energy related to each distinct damage mechanism. Besides, a method was obtained to estimate threshold impact energy from the quasi-static test, beyond which damage meaningfully extends. As a final point, the AE based approach using wavelet transform methodology was suggested to forecast the total damage area. Finally, it was figured out that this AE method can be a reliable approach in damage evaluation under impact loads in composite structures.

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Delamination is one of the major failure modes of the laminated composite material, which is responsible for the stiffness degradation of these materials. Hence, it is necessary to investigate this damage mechanism in these types of materials in order to distinguish their behaviors and their effects on the residual strength of the composite laminates. In this paper, a very capable procedure is proposed to assess delamination using Acoustic Emission (AE) method in composite laminates. Firstly, a novel procedure was established to decompose the fundamental Lamb wave modes in small size specimens. The damage mechanisms in End Notched Flexure (ENF) in woven and unidirectional specimens were then distinguished using Fuzzy Clustering Method (FCM). Subsequently, the crack-arrest phenomenon was inspected in each specimen. Next, experimental and Cohesive Zone Modeling (CZM) methods were done to characterize the delamination using ENF specimens. The results displayed how, it is possible to effectively reduce the effect of propagating media such as attenuation of AE signals using the new proposed procedure. In conclusion, the results of this research could lead to proficiently distinguishing different damages in laminated composite using AE Lamb-based technique.