Robust identification of impact force acting on composite structures via a single FBG sensor using variational mode decomposition

Robust identification of impact force acting on composite structures via a single FBG sensor using variational mode decomposition | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Robust identification of impact force acting on composite structures via a single FBG sensor using variational mode decomposition Jian Huang, Xiaoming Yang, Quanxin Jiang, Li Zhang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9373189/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Identifying impact force on composite structures is crucial for structural integrity assessment, yet it remains a formidable challenge under operational conditions where impact-induced vibrations are contaminated by ambient noise and other dynamic loads. To address this limitation, this paper develops a robust two-stage identification framework that requires only a single Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor. The core innovation of proposed methodology lies in leveraging Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) to decouple the complex, noisy strain signal into its constituent modal strain responses, effectively isolating the impact's signature from operational interference. From these purified modal responses, the uncorrected modal constant vector is extracted to serve as a unique fingerprint for impact localization. The location is accurately determined by evaluating the cosine similarity between this vector and a pre-computed modal matrix of potential impact sites. Subsequently, with the location identified, the impact force's time history is reconstructed using a sparse deconvolution model, which is efficiently solved by the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM). Experimental validation on a composite plate with simplified airfoil geometry confirms the method's efficacy. The results demonstrate a localization success rate exceeding 90% even under simulated operational conditions (harmonic and white noise excitation) and accurate force reconstruction, proving the proposed framework's exceptional robustness, efficiency, and practical applicability for in-service structural health monitoring (SHM). Physical sciences/Engineering Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing Impact force identification Composite structure Variational mode decomposition FBG Structural health monitoring Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 07 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 06 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 24 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 17 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 17 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 14 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 14 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9373189","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":629212589,"identity":"9e985f67-7764-4a76-a81a-bba5ea01de8d","order_by":0,"name":"Jian Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jingchu University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jian","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":629212590,"identity":"b62b1623-bf57-40a8-874d-5fe7b72cccfb","order_by":1,"name":"Xiaoming Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jingchu University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaoming","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":629212592,"identity":"a3f94058-211c-4f0c-bb75-133aece7bd90","order_by":2,"name":"Quanxin Jiang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jingchu University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Quanxin","middleName":"","lastName":"Jiang","suffix":""},{"id":629212593,"identity":"2c2a1240-2fd3-4163-a8ca-e128dae2746c","order_by":3,"name":"Li Zhang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA30lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCRBRICHH2ADmMhOrxUDCGKgFpIt4LQyJQOVEapGf3fzs4RcDi/Tm9jPmDxgqrBMb2M8ewKuFcc4xc2MZA4ncxp4cwwaGM+mJDTx5CXi1MEskmElLgLTM4DFsYGw7nNggwWOAVwubRPo3kJZ0RrCWf0Ro4ZHIMZP8YCCRANHSQIQWCYmcMmlgIBs29qQVzkg4lm7cxpODX4v8jPRtkj8q6uQN2w9v+PChxlq2n/0Mfi0gwMwDJIDBxcCQAPIdQfVAwPgDZB0xKkfBKBgFo2BkAgDtMD2xS+/IhAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Jingchu University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Li","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-10 01:23:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9373189/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9373189/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107870665,"identity":"af8f8802-f554-44fa-a7cb-ec08b46db485","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-27 07:40:19","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":979845,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"RevisedManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9373189/v1_covered_72a499f4-8f71-48fc-96c3-2386df3139f1.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Robust identification of impact force acting on composite structures via a single FBG sensor using variational mode decomposition","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Impact force identification, Composite structure, Variational mode decomposition, FBG, Structural health monitoring","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9373189/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9373189/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIdentifying impact force on composite structures is crucial for structural integrity assessment, yet it remains a formidable challenge under operational conditions where impact-induced vibrations are contaminated by ambient noise and other dynamic loads. To address this limitation, this paper develops a robust two-stage identification framework that requires only a single Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor. The core innovation of proposed methodology lies in leveraging Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) to decouple the complex, noisy strain signal into its constituent modal strain responses, effectively isolating the impact's signature from operational interference. From these purified modal responses, the uncorrected modal constant vector is extracted to serve as a unique fingerprint for impact localization. The location is accurately determined by evaluating the cosine similarity between this vector and a pre-computed modal matrix of potential impact sites. Subsequently, with the location identified, the impact force's time history is reconstructed using a sparse deconvolution model, which is efficiently solved by the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM). Experimental validation on a composite plate with simplified airfoil geometry confirms the method's efficacy. 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