ULTRASONIC MONITORING OF THE PULTRUSION MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Krishnan Balasubramaniam Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics Mail Stop 9549, Mississippi State University, MS 39762, USA
Keywords: Ultrasonic NDT, Composites, material characterisation, Pultrusion, Fabrication
ABSTRACT
Non Destructive Monitoring can play an important role in the pultrusion process through timely information regarding the material state during and after manufacture, especially since 100% inspection is possible. Physical principles of Ultrasonic wave propagation and wave reflection characteristics can be employed to constantly update the in-process fabrication parameters such as the degree of cure, rate of cure, defects in the part being produced, etc. The primary goals of this paper would be to report on our efforts to integrate ultrasonic non-invasive technology into the pultrusion manufacturing cycle, and establishing algorithms which quantitatively evaluate the actual cure state as well as the material state of the composite part while being manufactured.
Publication Source: Trends in NDE Science & Technology; Proceedings of the 14th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, New Delhi, 8-13 December 1996.Vol. 2, pages 589 - 594 Publisher:Ashgate Publishing Company
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