The fatigue damage monitoring of composite pipeline based on frequency domain analysis of electrical capacitance sensor system measurements

In this research, a new approach for fatigue damage monitoring of composite pipelines based on checking the stability of electrical capacitance sensor (ECS) system measurements is established. The study pipeline is made of basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP) and is subjected to fatigue and thermal loading. The ECS electrodes are installed peripherally outside of pipeline. First, the capacitance between the sensor electrode pairs due to transient excitations is measured numerically using ANSYS before and after damage. Then, the capacitance data between electrode pairs was analyzed by plotting the transfer function (TF) maps, considering that the pipeline system is an “open loop system” to indicate the damage growth. To evaluate the proposed technique's reliability and applicability, a comparison between the present and experimental results available in the literature is validated. The current results are convergent with experimental results, which shows the effectiveness of the current method and the significant potential for different applications in engineering.