A Review on Application of Non Destructive Techniques on Composites

Abstract

When manufacturing composite structure, material and structural components are created concurrently. Thus, for composite materials in critical structural applications, it is more important than ever to independently assure structural integrity. Complexity of the advanced composite materials manufacturing and composite in service maintenance represents challenges in developing optimized nondestructive tools and tests. Traditional metals based NDT methods are inappropriate and often misleading. In advanced technology applications such as aerospace and with industrial emphasis on economics and safety, it is critical to use and develop robust and practical composites NDT methods. Composite NDT encompasses a range of modified traditional and new tools including ultrasonic, xray, acoustic emission, thermography, and a variety of hybrid methods. This paper provides overview of the current use of the NDT tools in the composite applications.