Abstract:
The objective of this work was to develop non-invasive sensors and related technique for in-situ cure monitoring of composite materials. Unlike the conventional acoustic sensors these sensors need not be inserted in the parts being monitored, eliminating degradation of the material. Instead these sensors are surface mounted so they hug the part being monitored and are designed so that they can be conveniently housed in the tool. Two different type of sensors were developed, designed and fabricated and their cure monitoring ability and the technique was demonstrated. Lamb wave sensors were made out of thin stainless steel sheet by bonding PZT fingers. Subsequently, ZnO was sputter deposited and interdigital finger patterns were generated by micro photo-lithography. A novel impedance sensor was devised by a rectangular plate of LiNbO3 that vibrates in lateral modes with frequency of a few hundred kilo Hertz. Cure tests were conducted on laboratory grade composite samples made by soaking carbon fibre in epoxy.
Source: Proceedings of the 'NDE applied to Process Control of Composite Fabrication' - Conference, 4-5 Oct 1994 St. Louis, Missouri. Publisher and Organizer: Nondestructive Testing Information Analysis Center (NTIAC) Texas Research Institute Austin, Inc. Austin, Texas [http://www.ntiac.com] [Buying the Proceedings]
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