Abstract:
State-of-the-art polymer composites offer significant advantages over conventional materials in a wide range of structural applications. Despite these advantages, the use of polymer composites has been limited due to the absence of reliable methods for manufacturing process control, inspection, and repair. These limitations increase the cost of the composites and at the same time raise issues regarding structural integrity.
In an attempt to resolve these issues, scientists at the Westinghouse Science and Technology Center have developed a unique approach to enhanced quality assurance for composite systems. The concept involves the addition of a small amount of tiny magnetic ceramic particles to the composite matrix such that conventional electromagnetic devices can be used to rapidly interrogate and characterize material and hardware conditions. In the most simple applications, this tagging approach can be used to reveal important fabrication parameters such as reinforcement ratio, fiber layout, composition, state-of-cure, and void content. In more sophisticated applications, an external electromagnetic energy source can be used to activate the magnetic particles to permit selective curing, self-healing repairs, and even the measurement of reinforcement to matrix bond strength.
This presentation provides a brief overview of magnetic particle tagging as it applies to process control, quality assurance, and inspection in advanced polymer composite applications. Potential options for in-service condition monitoring and convenient repair techniques are also discussed.
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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