MFC-based structural health monitoring using a miniaturized impedance measuring chip for corrosion detection

This article presents an experimental study using an active sensing device that consists of a miniaturized impedance-measuring chip (AD5933) and a self-sensing macrofiber composite (MFC) patch to detect corrosion in aluminum structures widely used for aerospace, civil, and mechanical systems. A simple beam structure made from a 6063 T5 aluminum alloy was selected for corrosion-detection testing. Four different corrosion cases with two different locations and two different degrees at each location were artificially inflicted on the beam using hydrochloric (HCI) acid. To identify the degrees and locations of the corrosion, the electromechanical impedance-based damage-detection technique using the proposed active sensing device was investigated. Root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) metric of the real part of the impedances obtained from the MFC patch was selected as a damage-sensitive feature. Experimental results have verified that the proposed approach can be an effective tool for detection and quantification of corrosion in aluminum structures.