Millimeter wave heating for thermographic inspection of carbon fiber-reinforced composites

Journal Article · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · Materials Evaluation; (United States)

OSTI ID:7163935

Kaiser, J H ^[1]

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1. Deutsche Aerospace AG, Bremen (Germany). Dept. of Signature Technology

Thermography represents a useful in-service inspection technique for carbon fiber-reinforced composite structures. Conventional heat loading by optical radiation suffers from dazzling the thermal imaging system and thermal artifacts possibly arising from variations in optical absorptance of the paints used for coloring the structure. Microwave radiation can overcome these disadvantages. It has been proved that the selection of millimeter wave frequencies gives sufficient heat to accomplish one-sided thermographic testing irrespective of the (dielectric) coat of paint. Experimental results of the heating efficiency were shown for woven and multidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy laminates. Inspection performance was demonstrated by the detection of a barely visible impact damage.

• OSTI ID: 7163935
• Journal Information: Materials Evaluation; (United States), Journal Name: Materials Evaluation; (United States) Vol. 52:5; ISSN MAEVAD; ISSN 0025-5327
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420500* -- Engineering-- Materials Testing
CARBON FIBERS
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
DATA
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EPOXIDES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FIBERS
INFORMATION
INFRARED RADIATION
MATERIALS
MATERIALS TESTING
MEASURING METHODS
MICROWAVE RADIATION
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIATIONS
TESTING
THERMOGRAPHY
USES