Modal Analysis–Based Detection of Barely Visible Impact Damage in Carbon/Epoxy Overwraps of Type-IV Polymer-Lined Pressure Vessels

A vibration-based protocol is presented for identifying barely visible impact damage (BVID) in type-IV composite-overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs). A 1 kJ hemispherical-tip strike was applied to a fully pressurized vessel, which was subsequently depressurized and characterized by free–free experimental modal analysis over a 168-point grid. The frequency response functions (FRFs) at the impact meridian exhibited distinct peaks near 3.70, 4.34, and 4.90 kHz with larger amplitudes and lower coherence than at the diametrically opposite meridian, indicating local circumferential stiffness loss. A detailed finite element model of the liner, bosses, and carbon/epoxy overwrap was updated by idealizing a cylindrical sub-volume with a 90% reduction in orthotropic stiffness. The pristine and “damaged” numerical modal sets agreed closely (mean frequency error < 2%), and for most of the first 60 modes, the diagonal Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) remained ≥ 0.90. However, in several nearly degenerate circumferential mode pairs, the diagonal MAC dropped to 0.49–0.88 because the local asymmetry rotated the eigenvectors within a common subspace, showing that classical MAC alone cannot expose such early-stage defects. Radial displacement scan-lines provided the missing spatial resolution. Modes whose antinodal regions intersect the dent showed pronounced local amplitude bulges and slight angular shifts in the peak toward the impact site, whereas modes with a nodal line across the damage were virtually unchanged. The combined use of FRF asymmetry, MAC screening, and scan-line deformation profiling localized the impact to the correct circumferential sector with centimeter-scale resolution along the scan ring, yielding predictive signatures for rapid, non-pressurized in situ assessment of impacted COPVs after depressurization.