The use of piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) for structural health monitoring (SHM) purposes is state of the art for acousto-ultrasonic-based methods. For system reliability, detailed information about the PWAS itself is necessary. This paper gives an overview on frequent PWAS faults and presents the effects of these faults on the wave propagation, used for active acousto-ultrasonics-based SHM. The analysis of the wave field is based on velocity measurements using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV). New and established methods of PWAS inspection are explained in detail, listing advantages and disadvantages. The electro-mechanical impedance spectrum as basis for these methods is discussed for different sensor faults. This way this contribution focuses on a detailed analysis of PWAS and the need of their inspection for an increased reliability of SHM systems.
Keywords: diagnosis; electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) spectrum; fault detection; piezoelectric transducers; piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS).