A comparison of traditional and emerging ultrasonic methods for the nondestructive evaluation of polymer matrix composites subjected to impact damage

Richard E. Martin; Donald J. Roth; Charles G. Pergantis; Jaswinder S. Sandhu

doi:10.1117/12.543704

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20 July 2004 A comparison of traditional and emerging ultrasonic methods for the nondestructive evaluation of polymer matrix composites subjected to impact damage

Richard E. Martin, Donald J. Roth, Charles G. Pergantis, Jaswinder S. Sandhu

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Proceedings Volume 5393, Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring of Aerospace Materials and Composites III; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.543704
Event: NDE for Health Monitoring and Diagnostics, 2004, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a comparison study of three ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods applied to polymer matrix composite (PMC) specimens subjected to impact damage. Samples mainly consisted of various thicknesses of graphite/epoxy coupon panels impacted with various energy levels. Traditional pulse-echo and through transmission ultrasonic c-scan techniques were applied to impacted samples and served as the basis for comparison. Specimens were then inspected using acoustography, a large field ultrasonic inspection technique that is analogous to real-time X-ray imaging. Acoustography utilizes a unique, wide area two-dimensional (2-D) detector, called an acousto-optic (AO) sensor, to directly convert ultrasound into visual images; much like an image intensifier in real-time radiography. Finally, a newly developed guided wave scanning system was utilized to inspect the same set of samples. This system uses two transducers in a pitch catch configuration to examine the total (multi-mode) ultrasonic response in its inspection analysis. Several time- and frequency-domain parameters are calculated from the ultrasonic guided wave signal at each scan location to form images. Results are presented for all of the methods demonstrating each technique's detection capabilities and highlighting their advantages and disadvantages.

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Richard E. Martin, Donald J. Roth, Charles G. Pergantis, and Jaswinder S. Sandhu "A comparison of traditional and emerging ultrasonic methods for the nondestructive evaluation of polymer matrix composites subjected to impact damage", Proc. SPIE 5393, Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring of Aerospace Materials and Composites III, (20 July 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.543704

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