Investigation of the Possibility of Thermal Control of Polymer Composite Structures While Heating by the Internal Source

Abstract

Dynamic temperature fields on the surface of a polymer composite material under the action of an internal heat source are considered. It is shown that the use of thermal control based on the measurement and analysis of the temperature field parameters allows detecting a defect (heat source) in the material and determining its depth and coordinates. The studies have shown the possibility of using thermal control to detect internal defects in products made of polymer composite materials when creating internal heat sources in the vicinity of defects with the use of modern thermograph systems that provide the registration of changing the temperature field of 0.1 deg and higher. The numerical solution using the finite element method and the time difference scheme is in good agreement with the analytical solution when choosing grid steps: the error is reduced to 2.4% already at a distance of three grid steps from the source. It is shown that on the basis of the measurement of the parameters of dynamic temperature fields, it is possible to determine the location of the depth of the defect (internal heating source) and its area coordinates that makes it possible significantly to extend the scope of application of thermal control.