Spatially distributed damage detection in CMC thermal protection materials using thin-film piezoelectric sensors

Thermal protection systems (TPS) of aerospace vehicles are subjected to impacts during in-flight use and vehicle refurbishment. The damage resulting from such impacts can produce localized regions that are unable to resist extreme temperatures. Therefore it is essential to have a reliable method to detect, locate, and quantify the damage occurring from such impacts. The objective of this research is to demonstrate a capability that could lead to detecting, locating and quantifying impact events for ceramic matrix composite (CMC) wrapped tile TPS via sensors embedded in the TPS material. Previous research had shown a correlation between impact energies, material damage state, and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensor response for impact energies between 0.07 - 1.00 Joules, where impact events were located directly over the sensor positions¹. In this effort, the effectiveness of a sensor array is evaluated for detecting and locating low energy impacts on a CMC wrapped TPS. The sensor array, which is adhered to the internal surface of the TPS tile, is used to detect low energy impact events that occur at different locations. The analysis includes an evaluation of signal amplitude levels, time-of-flight measurements, and signal frequency content. Multiple impacts are performed at each location to study the repeatability of each measurement.