Abstract:When existing damage imaging algorithms are applied to real complex aeronautical structures, due to the influences of anisotropy of structures, complex boundary reflection and the dispersion characteristics of guided waves, the imaging result is often poor, and the application error is large, or the damage even can not be imaged. To solve the above problems, a structural damage imaging method based on dispersion compensation and pathwave velocity mapping is proposed. Firstly, the dispersion compensation of the scattered wave packet of damage under the influence of anisotropy is applied to optimize the characteristics of guided wave amplitude. Secondly, the problem of large errors of the time of flight caused by structural anisotropy is solved based on pathwave velocity mapping method. The imaging method is validated on the composite structures with stiffeners and openings, and the accuracy of damage imaging is obviously improved.