Comparison of a cost-effective phase based thermography method with ultrasonic investigation of defects in CFRP structures

Martin Perterer, Horst Baier, Franz Höchtl

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

In recent years nondestructive inspection (NDI) methods have found their way into service in the aerospace and automotive industry. Reliable and sensitive NDI systems often represent high acquisition costs for small and medium-sized companies, which represent a significant fraction of aerospace and the majority of automotive suppliers as well as the whole area of high performance sports equipment. For this reason a new approach in thermographic testing is introduced in this work, which combines the advantages of a robust and cheap NDI system such as heat flow thermography with the defect sensitivity of a high performance NDI method such as Lock-In thermography. The data acquisition and excitation is separated, which together with the use of appropriate data management, analyzing software algorithms and cheap off-the-shelf components leads to an effective 2-D NDI system. A carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) test plate containing various kinds of defects (delaminations, inclusions, fiber cracks, resin accumulations, etc.) is used to compare this thermographic system with the results of a watercoupled ultrasonic system. It is shown that this system has comparable defect sensitivity and even shows advantages in the detection of overlapped defects while simultaneously reducing the total testing time. Furthermore large defect areas can be inspected very quickly.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSAMPE Tech 2011 Conference and Exhibition
Subtitle of host publicationDeveloping Scalable Materials and Processes for Our Future
StatePublished - 2011
EventSAMPE Tech 2011 Conference and Exhibition: Developing Scalable Materials and Processes for Our Future - Fort Worth, TX, United States
Duration: 17 Oct 201120 Oct 2011

Publication series

NameInternational SAMPE Technical Conference

Conference

ConferenceSAMPE Tech 2011 Conference and Exhibition: Developing Scalable Materials and Processes for Our Future
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityFort Worth, TX
Period17/10/1120/10/11

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Comparison of a cost-effective phase based thermography method with ultrasonic investigation of defects in CFRP structures'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this