Enhanced composite plate impact damage detection and characterisation using X-Ray refraction and scattering contrast combined with ultrasonic imaging

Abstract

Ultrasonic imaging and radiography are widely used in the aerospace industry for nondestructive evaluation of damage in fibre-reinforced composites. Novel phase-based Xray imaging methods use phase effects occurring in inhomogeneous specimens to extract additional information and achieve improved contrast. Edge Illumination employs a coded aperture system to extract refraction and scattering driven signals in addition to conventional absorption. Comparison with ultrasonic immersion C-scan imaging and with a commercial X-ray CT system for impact damage analysis in a small cross-ply carbon fibre-reinforced plate sample was performed to evaluate the potential of this new technique. The retrieved refraction and scattering signals provide complementary information, revealing previously unavailable insight on the damage 2 extent and scale, not observed in the conventional X-ray absorption and ultrasonic imaging, allowing improved damage characterisation.

Guided wave propagation and scattering at composite delaminations

“…The subsequent application of external loads may cause delamination growth, resulting in significant strength reduction, and eventual catastrophic failure of the composite component [5]. Several non-destructive techniques have been used to monitor composite components, particularly radiographic [6,7] and ultrasonic methods [8].…”

Comparative study of ultrasonic techniques for reconstructing the multilayer structure of composites

“…Among the various NDT techniques, UT has been most commonly used for the inspection of multilayer composites [20,21,22]. A major advantage of using UT is that it is highly sensitive to the multilayered structure and various damage types commonly found in composites [23].…”

Effect of fibre bundle uncertainty on the tensile and shear behaviour of plain-woven composites

“…Thanks to the development of imaging methodologies, the internal structure and distribution of yarns in woven composites can be visualised. µ-CT is regarded as one of the most accurate techniques able to capture the fabric yarn features by generating a 3D structure with 2D slice scanning [1,2]. However, the high accuracy of µ-CT limits the scanning scale, i.e.…”

“…it focuses on a small region in each evaluation. In order to simplify the process, C-scan may help to roughly locate deviations before applying µ-CT scanning for a more detailed investigation [2]. However, the time cost is still considerable, and there may be health issues related to the use of µ-CT [3].…”