Sidney Goossens

Vrije Universiteit Brussel | VUB · Applied Physics and Photonics (TONA)

Current composite structures used in aircraft can suffer from barely visible impact damage (BVID) that can compromise the load-bearing function of these structures. Especially damage-prone regions, such as the feet of a skin-stiffener structure, must therefore be frequently inspected for such damage. This increases aircraft downtimes and associated...

Invited Talk at the Aerospace and Aeronautics World Forum 2021.

A Liquid Resin Infusion (LRI) fabrication process is presented for manufacturing of composite aircraft demonstrators. A Building Block (BB) assessment approach is adopted, structured in coupon, element and subcomponent level. The quality of fabrication is quantified in terms of porosity and fiber volume fraction and the properties of the composite...

Optical fibre sensors (OFS) are increasingly used for structural health monitoring (SHM) on aerospace-grade carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) components owing to their lightweight, small diameter, multiplexing capabilities, and immunity to electromagnetic interference. A network of permanently installed fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) would allow...

Barely visible impact damage (BVID) on carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) aerospace components can create interlaminar defects that may deteriorate during operation with potential failure as a result. Especially damage-prone regions such as the feet of a stiffener must therefore be inspected for BVIDs frequently, which is an effort that increas...

Optical fibre sensors exhibit unique advantages over traditional electrical sensors: they are lightweight, as thin as a human hair, they can have tens or even hundreds of sensors in one optical fibre, and they are immune to electromagnetic interference. In this tutorial we will explain the operating principle of fiber Bragg grating strain sensors,...

Ultrasonic guided wave (UGW) detection with fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based sensors has received increasing attention in the last decades due to the ability to perform non-destructive inspection (NDI) of large plate-like surfaces with a network of lightweight and multiplexed sensors. For accurate UGW measurements, several studies concluded that the...

Several reports have recently shown the capability of optical fibre sensors for the detection of barely visible impact damage (BVID) on CFRP laminates, based on changes in the optical signal before and after impact. Although this approach was shown to work well in lab conditions, little attention has been paid so far to its practicality when consid...

When adequately mounted, fiber Bragg grating sensors can be effectively exploited in harsh environmental conditions. Examples include measuring vibration characteristics of nuclear fuel pins in liquid metal and detecting impact damage of aerospace composite materials.

Composite materials are finding their way into aerospace applications thanks to their high stiffness-to-mass ratio. Nevertheless, composite components require frequent inspections because of their sensitivity to critical damage. Damage as small as barely visible impact damage (BVID) can grow as result of structural loading, with component failure a...

Dealing with barely visible impact damage (BVID) on composite components implies either an increased component thickness or frequent and lengthy scanning methods of the operational component. This increases downtimes or adds mass to the aircraft, increasing fuel consumption and emission. Structural health monitoring (SHM) based on optical fibre sen...

Optical fibre sensors are being investigated since many years as candidates of choice for supporting structural health monitoring (SHM) in aerospace applications. Fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, more specifically, can provide for accurate strain measurements and therefore return useful data about the mechanical strain state of the structure to w...

Optical fibre sensors are being investigated since many years as candidates of choice for supporting structural health monitoring (SHM) in aerospace applications. Fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, more specifically, can provide for accurate strain measurements and therefore return useful data about the mechanical strain state of the structure to w...

We suggest a robust optical fibre sensor package and its installation method for structural health monitoring purposes on carbon fibre reinforced polymer structures with potential to meet aerospace standards.

Conventional contact sensors used for Lamb wave-based ultrasonic inspection, such as piezo-electric transducers, measure omnidirectional strain and do not allow distinguishing between fundamental symmetric and anti-symmetric modes. In this paper, we show that the use of a single fibre Bragg grating created in a dedicated microstructured optical fib...

Structural health monitoring (SHM) by means of embedded fibre optic (FO) sensors is able to perform diagnosis and prognosis of structural damages and defects. SHM system monitor structural status based on the acquired data resulting in the detection and characterization of damages and defects without necessity for the aircraft to be on ground. Opti...

Optical fibers typically only allow strain measurements in the direction along the fiber’s axis. We developed an optical fiber sensor that allows measuring transverse strains in fiber-reinforced plastics, when embedded between the reinforcement fibers. Assessing the strain levels in the composite’s out-of-plane direction thereby becomes possible wi...