Non-Destructive

Testing
Ultrasonic & Thermography
By: Romeo Zitha

MSc Aeronautical Engineering

Abstract
In this study, Olymus OMNI Ultrasonic Scanner is used to detect and characterise
defects in a 12 layers of Carbon resin vacuumed and infused with epoxy resin
(Laminated Composite Material) measuring 220mm x 190mm and 3mm thick. The
article also discusses the limitations; advantages and disadvantages of ultrasonic NDT
on composites. As well as thermography techniques used for tracing defects in
laminated composite materials, limitations, advantages and disadvantages.

Table of Contents
1.INTRODUCTION

2.0 ULTRASONIC NDT

2.1 APPROACH TO INSPECTION

2.2 SET UP AND CALIBRATION PROCEDURES

2.3 RESULTS

CONCLUSION

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3.0 INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES

10

APPENDIX A

12

REFERENCES

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1.Introduction
Composite structures are becoming increasingly popular within the aerospace
industry, with Boeing stating, The 787 Dreamliner is primarily made of carbon fibre
composite material, manufacturing processes produce less scrap material and waste.
Airbus states, More than 50 per cent of the next-generation A350 XWB is made of
composites, marking a significant milestone for aircraft production. Composites
allow for greater strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistant and the opportunity to
manufacture more complicated shapes. In commercial aviation in order to ensure
safety and compliance are meet composite fundamentals of an aircraft need to be
tested periodically during the operation life. NDT methods were developed in order to
allow for inspection to detect, localize and determine a size of damage without the
need to disassemble the structure. NDT techniques allow for possibly early damage
detection.
Composites used for manufacturing aircraft components and structures, due to their
complex internal structure they are subjected to different types of damage at various
stages of their operation life as compared to aluminium alloys. Damages that occur
within composites are for example delamination, fibre wrinkling, waviness; they are
susceptible to impact damage, foreign object inclusion and ply separations can occur.
Such damages can decrease the residual strength and durability of the structure
leading potentially to a failure and jeopardizing the safety of the aircraft operation.
Several NDT techniques have been developed for composites diagnostic purposes.
Katunin, A., Dragan, K. and Dziendzikowski, M. (2015) states that Ultrasonic Testing
(UT) is one of the most universal NDT methods allowing detecting different types of
damage. NDT application on aircraft structures is a well-covered research topic, other
researchers such as Feuillet, V., Ibos, L., Fois, M., Dumoulin, J. and Candau, Y.
(2012), used other NDT techniques which can be applied for damage identifications
of composites structures.
Additional NDT methods applied in the inspection of aircraft composite structures
cover: shearography, digital image correlation (DIC), X-ray computed tomography,
lighting protection sheet (LPS) sensing

2.0 Ultrasonic NDT

National Composites Network (2015), ultrasonic inspection (UT) its the most widely
used non-destructive inspection method for the examination of composites. On
microscopically homogenous materials (non-composite) it is commonly used in the
frequency range 20kHz to 20MHz With composite materials the testing range is
significantly reduced because of the increased attenuation, so the operating frequency
limit is usually 5MHz or less. This reduces the ability to resolve small flaws within
the composites hence it should be taken into consideration when performing the
inspection.
In most techniques short pulses of ultrasound (typically a few microseconds) are
passed into the composite material and detected after having interrogated the
structure. The techniques include pulse-echo, through-transmission, back scattering,
acoustic ultra Sonics and ultrasonic spectroscopy.

Figure 1. Ultrasonic Methods

Ultrasonic coupling of the probes to the test specimen can be achieved in different
ways, including close contact using coupling fluids, jells or soft materials, Immersion
in water, Water jets or water columns and Non contact approaches. The advantages of
using coupling fluids methods are that it simple, inexpensive, Suitable for field
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applications, normal or angled probes can be used, provides instantaneous indication

of flaws and can be used on relatively complex parts or areas with limited access.
However it does have limitations such as it offers small coverage area, its requires the
working surface to be smooth and clean and the coupling thickness variations could
affect the results.
In a typical scenario, the existing single-element inspection is simply emulated with
the array but with one or more axes of physical transducer movement (e.g. translation)
now performed electronically by the array. For example, this can be achieved by
simply scanning a fixed width aperture over the length of the array4.

2.1 Approach to inspection

The experiment was carried out using Olympus OMNI Ultrasonic Scanner, which is
connected to a 64-element probe (5L64-NW1) as show in figure 2. The frequency was
set at 5 MHz with normal incidence beam, it is important to note that a low frequency
reduces the ability to resolve small flaws.

Figure 2. Olympus OMNI Ultrasonic Scanner

2.2 Set up and calibration procedures

The manual ultrasonic testing (UT) is contact-tested by scanning a probe by hand
preforming raster scanning; this is suitable for inspecting small areas but requires high
level of operating skills to insure consistent results. A water jell based coupling was
used manually. It is important to ensure complete contact of couplant with all

surfaces. The material and the density of the material influence the distance the sound
has to travel. With the couplant, it is more important to ensure complete contact with
all surfaces. The thickness of couplant and the pressure of the probe is not the main
attribute for the strength of the signal. The distance the sound has to travel through the
material and the density of the material influences this more. If you do not have
sufficient couplant then this will affect the transmission and reception of the signal.
The signal amplitude is dependent on the thickness of the coupling fluid layer, which
itself is dependent on the pressure applied. A, B, S and corrected and uncorrected C
scans were recorded for further analysis of the images. The data is analysed using the
software of the instrument. The data were saved to a disk, and were subsequently
analysed analytically and visually.

Figure 3. Raster scanning

In order to gain accurate results, the raster scan followed the path as outlined on the
figure to the above. This route would allow a visual representation in the results for
the whole test piece.
When the process was completed the results will be sent to the Olympus OMNI
Ultrasonic Scanner. The scanner will then give a representation of the test piece. This
information will be represented on the screen where the discrepancies can be analysed
more intricately.

2.3 Results
From the scan data we can identify defects in the laminated carbon composite
material, as depicted in the figure below.

As illustrated in the figure above, The results obtained from the A- scan. The B-Scan
shows an approximate depth of the defects. The three images below show the B-Scan
results at three different locations.

Defect

Depth (Approx.) mm

1.8

2.2

2.5

1.4

1.0

The density of the defect can also be approximated and when validated against a test
piece the material can be guessed with some accuracy. The C-Scan shown above
shows a distinct density difference between each of the defects. Therefore by
analysing the scan it is clear that the density of defect 4 is the highest with 2 being the
lowest. Possibly of typical of composite flaw could be present such as: Delamination;
matrix cracking; fibre breakage and core dis-bonds.
The results obtained from this test have outlined certain limitations and potential
errors that may occur from the ultrasonic test conducted on the test piece in this
experiment. Therefore future ultrasonic methods have been researched to determine
whether these limitations and errors will one day addressed and potentially mitigated

against. One future technique that has been said to potentially be able to address the
issues mentioned is called Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing.

Figure above shows a linear scan on a metal block. In this test the transducer is kept
in one place but the elements waves are sent in a way that scans along the length of
the probe.

The results can be displayed in multiple scan views as show in Figure shown above.

Another benefit of the phased array method is the ability to take angular readings,
which can benefit the test conductor when looking at areas that are not easily
accessible. An example of this can be seen in figure above.

Conclusion
Ultrasonic inspection was carried out on a Carbon resin vacuumed and infused with
epoxy resin (Laminated Composite Material) measuring 220mm x 190mm and 3mm
thick; five defects were located as indicated on the results section with the material
within great accuracy. For improving the method it has be suggested that the use of
Phase Array UT will yield better results.

3.0 Infrared Thermography techniques

Infrared thermography is a non-destructive technique that determines defects or flaws
by measuring the temperature variations after some external introduction of a
temperature gradient. The presences of defects disrupt the normal pattern of the heat
flow that would be expected in a structure. The techniques are more sensitive to
defects near the surface. National Composites Network (NCN) (2015) states that
Modern thermography systems commonly use infrared (IR) cameras to detect
radiated heat and are controlled by TV video electronics which sample the field of
view at a typical rate of 50Hz, allowing temperature variations on a 20ms time-scale
to be resolved. The camera is sensitive to change in temperature of about 0.005o C
according to NCN.
Thermography methods fall broadly into two groups: active methods, and passive
methods. Active methods are thermal gradient are produced and continuously
maintained by the application of cyclic stress. Passive methods are the results of
transient change from the thermal gradient. Passive methods are the most widely
applied NDT technique in composites inspection.
There are two main techniques employed in active thermography: Lock-in
thermography utilises a periodic harmonic heat to stimulate the target surface. The
reflected heat is then captured as a series of thermal images. The thermal images are
used to extract the sinusoidal wave pattern at each point in the image. The extraction

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of the thermal wave from the thermal images relies on various signal-processing
algorithms, including: Fourier Transforms, Time constant image, Four point
correlation and Digital lock-in correlation. Each method has its advantages and
disadvantages and is applicable for different applications.
Pulse thermography consists of subjecting a component or structure to a pulse of heat
and monitoring the temperature distribution. The heat will permeate the structure. In
the presence of a defect the heat conduction becomes non-uniform and a thermal
camera can detect this.
Emissivity is a material property with some materials that are good emitters and some
are poor emitters. The materials that are good emitters provide the best results; this
can be affected by the surface finish, surface shape, viewing angle, metal oxidation
and temperature.
Limitations
The main limitation in applying thermography to composites inspection is the
anisotropy that produces different thermal properties in different directions. The
presence of lightning protection mesh in some aerospace structures can mask
indications.

Figure 4. Experimental set-up for thermal pulse thermography. [4]

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Appendix A
Appendix 1. Olympus OMNI Ultrasonic Scanner

Appendix 2. Composite and Probe set-up

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