Non-Destructive ultrasonic investigations on FRP structures

Components made of fibre-reinforced plastic are a prominently used material in modern safety-relevant structures. Periodic in-service non-destructive inspection of these structures is necesary. The EMRP-funded project VITCEA aims on the evaluation of the performance of various non-destructive testing methods on the inspection of fibre-reinforced plastics. The physical layout of fibre layers leads to complex structures of fibre-reinforced plastic parts. Furthermore different material properties of the fibre and the resin cause anisotropic behaviour of the material.This poses a challenge for ultrasonic NDT by causing a complex acoustical response. The acoustical behaviour of fibre-reinforced plate materials has been simulated. Specimens with artificial flaws for the evaluation of the detection thresholds have been designed and manufactured. Mechanized ultrasonic testing methods using phased-array sensors, air-coupled transducers, immersion tank testing and contact technique have been evaluated on the specimen. In this talk results of different ultrasonic testing methods will be compared and discussed.