Analysis on Impact Resistance of Smart CFRP Laminates with Embedded/Surface-Bonded FBG Sensors
You-Yong Tang1, Yong-Hao Liu2, Dong-Yang Wei1, Xiao-Wei Feng2, Jose Campos e Matos3, David Hui4, Hua-Ping Wang1,*
1 School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
2 Gansu Provincial Transportation Research Institute Group Co., Ltd., Lanzhou, China
3 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, ISISE, Guimarães, Portugal
4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA
* Corresponding Author: Hua-Ping Wang. Email: 
, 
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Smart Sensors and Smart CFRP Components for Structural Health Monitoring of Aerospace, Energy and Transportation Structures)
Structural Durability & Health Monitoring https://doi.org/10.32604/sdhm.2026.075676
Received 06 November 2025; Accepted 30 December 2025; Published online 14 January 2026
Abstract
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates are widely used in aerospace, new energy, and transportation engineering due to their high specific strength and stiffness. However, interlaminar delamination damage can lead to sudden structural failure, and the occurrence and prediction of such hidden defects are difficult to identify and evaluate using conventional inspection methods. To address this, smart CFRP laminates integrated with fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors offer a new approach for real-time structural health monitoring (SHM). Nevertheless, the influence mechanisms of the two integration methods—embedded and surface-bonded FBG sensors—on the static strength and impact resistance of the structure remain unclear. To fill this gap, this paper systematically investigates the mechanical behavior under static and dynamic loads and the optimization strategies for impact resistance of smart CFRP laminates with embedded/surface-bonded FBG sensors through a combination of experimental and simulation methods. Orthogonally laid-up CFRP laminates were designed and fabricated, integrated with FBG sensor arrays to form a primary self-sensing system. The strain characteristics of the CFRP laminate structures with different FBG integration methods were quantitatively analyzed through static loading and low-velocity impact tests. Furthermore, a multi-scale finite element model was established based on LS-DYNA to validate the experimental trends and reveal the underlying mechanisms. The research results indicate that the strain amplitude decays inversely with the distance from the sensor to the loading point, the strain response exhibits typical “four-stage characteristics,” the peak strain is positively correlated with the impact energy, and it decays exponentially with sensor distance. The finite element simulations show high consistency with the experimental strain trends, verifying the reliability of the established multi-scale model. Within the linear-elastic, non-damaging regime considered in this study, the finite element simulations indicate that embedded optical fibers slightly redistribute the local stress field but have only a limited influence on the global impact response of the CFRP laminate. These findings provide scientific instruction for the development of smart CFRP structures and the configuration of FBG-based SHM system.
Keywords
Smart CFRP laminate; FBG sensor; SHM; impact resistance; damage mechanism
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