Comparative evaluation of aerospace composites using thermography and ultrasonic NDT techniques

Abstract

In the present research work a study was carried out evaluating the applicability of two NDT techniques, this of Transient Thermography (TT) and Ultrasonic Testing (UT) for the inspection of different types of composite materials (i.e. laminated CFRPs, laminated hybrid FRPs and sandwiched panels). The composite structures were consisted of a variety of artificial defects, while inspection was performed through different testing configurations. In particular, transient thermography was implemented through the monitoring of the surface transient cooling after flash heating the samples and ultrasonic testing was applied using both a conventional single element probe (immersion technique) and a linear phased array transducer consisted of 128 elements. The main objective of this work was to compare the applicability and effectiveness of the two techniques in aerospace composites inspection as well as to evaluate the accuracy produced regarding the quantitative characterisation of the detected features. The obtained results showed that all the defects were revealed by either transient thermography or ultrasonic testing, whilst thermographic inspection can display the acquired results in a more rapid manner. On the other hand UT testing can provide efficient results for deeper probing requiring however longer inspection times. In other words, the acquired data and the respective analyses highlighted the different capability of each testing configuration, to detect defects and to gain knowledge for the interior of the structures.

Depth Retrieval Procedures in Pulsed Thermography: Remarks in Time and Frequency Domain Analyses

“…Pulsed Thermography (PT) is a widely used technique for the Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT&E) of advanced materials and structures [1][2][3][4][5]. Compared with other NDT&E technologies, this thermographic configuration presents remarkable benefits such as its rapid and simple implementation, its suitability for large-scale inspections and complex surface monitoring, as well as its contactless application requiring no physical contact to the material being inspected.…”

Review of non-destructive testing methods for physical condition monitoring in the port industry

“…Before a component within a system fails, there is usually a rise in temperature above normal operating parameters. IR Thermography works by utilizing a camera that can detect heat signatures in infrared wavelengths which are not visible to the human eye and can be categorized in two ways: passive or active [26] What makes IR so attractive is that it is a noncontact and non-intrusive NDT method that allows the user to see potential failures before they take place.…”