Piezoelectric sensor array-based spatial filter technology is a new promising method presented in research area of structural health monitoring (SHM) in the recent years. To apply this method to composite structures and give the actual position of dam-age, this paper proposes a spatial filter-based damage imaging method improved by complex Shannon wavelet transform. The basic principle of spatial filter is analyzed first. Then, this paper proposes a method of using complex Shannon wavelet transform to construct analytic signals of time domain signals of PZT sensors array. The analytic signals are synthesized depending on the principle of the spatial filter to give a damage imaging in the form of angle-time. A method of converting the damage imaging to the form of angle-distance is discussed. Finally, an aircraft composite oil tank is adopted to validate the damage imaging method. The validating results show that this method can recognize angle and distance of damage successfully.
