Modeling the effects of beam size and flaw morphology on ultrasonic pulse/echo sizing of delaminations in carbon composites

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2012-07-01
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Margetan, Frank
Leckey, Cara
Barnard, Daniel
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Margetan, Frank
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Center for Nondestructive Evaluation
Abstract

The size and shape of a delamination in a multi-layered structure can be estimated in various ways from an ultrasonic pulse/echo image. For example the −6dB contours of measured response provide one simple estimate of the boundary. More sophisticated approaches can be imagined where one adjusts the proposed boundary to bring measured and predicted UT images into optimal agreement. Such approaches require suitable models of the inspection process. In this paper we explore issues pertaining to model-based size estimation for delaminations in carbon fiber reinforced laminates. In particular we consider the influence on sizing when the delamination is non-planar or partially transmitting in certain regions. Two models for predicting broadband sonic time-domain responses are considered: (1) a fast “simple” model using paraxial beam expansions and Kirchhoff and phase-screen approximations; and (2) the more exact (but computationally intensive) 3D elastodynamic finite integration technique (EFIT). Model-to-model and model-to experiment comparisons are made for delaminations in uniaxial composite plates, and the simple model is then used to critique the −6dB rule for delamination sizing.

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Copyright 2013 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.

The following article appeared in AIP Conference Proceedings 1511 (2013): 955–962 and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4789147.

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Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2013