This study presents the identification of impact forces acting on isogrid-stiffened panels. A method based on experimental transfer matrices is employed to identify the impact location and the force history using the responses of surface bonded PZT disks. The experimental transfer matrix expresses the relationship between the impact force and the sensor response, and it is constructed based on the measured data obtained by conducting preliminarily impact tests. When the panel is subjected to an unknown impact, the impact location and the force history are identified by adjusting the sensor responses calculated with the experimental transfer matrices to the measured responses. Identification of impact forces acting on an isogrid-stiffened aluminum panel is demonstrated experimentally to verify the validity of the present method. The results reveal that the identified impact locations and force histories agree well with the measured ones.
doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/179