scholarly journals Non-destructive testing and evaluation of composite materials/structures: A state-of-the-art review

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 168781402091376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Wang ◽  
Shuncong Zhong ◽  
Tung-Lik Lee ◽  
Kevin S Fancey ◽  
Jiawei Mi

Composite materials/structures are advancing in product efficiency, cost-effectiveness and the development of superior specific properties. There are increasing demands in their applications to load-carrying structures in aerospace, wind turbines, transportation, medical equipment and so on. Thus, robust and reliable non-destructive testing of composites is essential to reduce safety concerns and maintenance costs. There have been various non-destructive testing methods built upon different principles for quality assurance during the whole lifecycle of a composite product. This article reviews the most established non-destructive testing techniques for detection and evaluation of defects/damage evolution in composites. These include acoustic emission, ultrasonic testing, infrared thermography, terahertz testing, shearography, digital image correlation, as well as X-ray and neutron imaging. For each non-destructive testing technique, we cover a brief historical background, principles, standard practices, equipment and facilities used for composite research. We also compare and discuss their benefits and limitations and further summarise their capabilities and applications to composite structures. Each non-destructive testing technique has its own potential and rarely achieves a full-scale diagnosis of structural integrity. Future development of non-destructive testing techniques for composites will be directed towards intelligent and automated inspection systems with high accuracy and efficient data processing capabilities.

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kevin M. Dugmore

The experiments and their results contained herein will form the basis for the development of a portable non-destructive testing device for composite structures. This device is to be capable of detecting any of a variety of defects and assessing their severity within a short time


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (26) ◽  
pp. 3589-3599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Asif ◽  
Muhammad A Khan ◽  
Sohaib Z Khan ◽  
Rizwan S Choudhry ◽  
Kamran A Khan

Laminate composites are commonly used for the production of critical mechanical structures and components such as wind turbine blades, helicopter rotors, unmanned aerial vehicle wings and honeycomb structures for aircraft wings. During the manufacturing process of these composite structures, zones or areas with weak bond strength are always issues, which may affect the strength and performance of components. The identification and quantification of these zones are always challenging and necessary for the mass production. Non-destructive testing methods available, including ultrasonic A, B, and C-Scan, laser shearography, X-ray tomography, and thermography can be useful for the mentioned purposes. A comparison of these techniques concerning their capacity of identification and quantification of bond defects; however, still needs a comprehensive review. In this paper, a detailed comparison of several non-destructive testing techniques is provided. Emphasis is placed to institute a guideline to select the most suitable technique for the identification of zones with bond defects in laminated composites. Experimental tests on different composite based machined components are also discussed in detail. The discussion provides practical evidence about the effectiveness of different non-destructive testing techniques.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 35-45
Author(s):  
С.В. Дубинский ◽  
Е.А. Казьмин ◽  
И.Е. Ковалев ◽  
А.Б. Корнилов ◽  
Г.А. Корнилов ◽  
...  

The method of vibrothermography may be considered as one of the promising thermal non-destructive testing techniques, which can be applied for the detection of internal damage in composite structures. The thermal excitation of the structure in case of vibrothermography is caused by the mechanical oscillations on the sonic or ultrasonic frequency, and the change in temperature field of the object is controlled by thermography methods. The present paper considers the method of vibration testing and presents the results of thermography studies focused on the behavior of composite structure with impact damage subjected to vibration loading.


Micromachines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wongi S. Na ◽  
Jongdae Baek

Detecting the depth and size of debonding in composite structures is essential for assessing structural safety as it can weaken the structure possibly leading to a failure. As composite materials are used in various fields up to date including aircrafts and bridges, inspections are carried out to maintain structural integrity. Although many inspection methods exist for detection damage of composites, most of the techniques require trained experts or a large equipment that can be time consuming. In this study, the possibility of using the piezoelectric material-based non-destructive method known as the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique is used to identify the depth of debonding damage of glass epoxy laminates. Laminates with various thicknesses were prepared and tested to seek for the possibility of using the EMI technique for identifying the depth of debonding. Results show promising outcome for bringing the EMI technique a step closer for commercialization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 10763
Author(s):  
Dong-Woo Seo ◽  
Kyu-San Jung ◽  
Yi-Seul Kim ◽  
Hyung-Jin Kim ◽  
Wongi S. Na

To date, the application of composite materials has been used throughout the globe due to its advantages, such as corrosion resistance, high strength, design flexibility, and light weight. However, the joining of composite materials is usually achieved with adhesives, where debonding of parts can cause unexpected failure. Thus, detecting and locating defects due to impact or fatigue stresses at an early stage is crucial to ensure safety. Various non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques have been used to detect defects in composite structures, where this study proposes an improved approach of using one of the NDT techniques to detect and locate debonding of glass fiber epoxy plates. Here, the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique is used with a new way of detecting defects using a movable device. This idea could reduce the overall cost of the monitoring system as the conventional EMI technique requires one to permanently attach a large number of piezoelectric transducers when monitoring large structures. The performance of the proposed idea is tested against another temporary attachment method to investigate the possibility of using the new idea for monitoring debonding in composite structures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-52
Author(s):  
Rafał Szymański

AbstractThe article is in line with the contemporary interests of companies from the aviation industry. It describes thermoplastic material and inspection techniques used in leading aviation companies. The subject matter of non-destructive testing currently used in aircraft inspections of composite structures is approximated and each of the methods used is briefly described. The characteristics of carbon preimpregnates in thermoplastic matrix are also presented, as well as types of thermoplastic materials and examples of their application in surface ship construction. The advantages, disadvantages and limitations for these materials are listed. The focus was put on the explanation of the ultrasonic method, which is the most commonly used method during the inspection of composite structures at the production and exploitation stage. Describing the ultrasonic method, the focus was put on echo pulse technique and the use of modern Phased Array heads. Incompatibilities most frequently occurring and detected in composite materials with thermosetting and thermoplastic matrix were listed and described. A thermoplastic flat composite panel made of carbon pre-impregnate in a high-temperature matrix (over 300°C), which was the subject of the study, was described. The results of non-destructive testing (ultrasonic method) of thermoplastic panel were presented and conclusions were drawn.


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