Applications of ultrasonic NDT to aerospace composites
نویسندگان
چکیده
Whilst existing composite aircraft designs carry additional weight to mitigate the risk of undetected nonconformance to design, new non-destructive characterisation (NDC) methods offer a leaner future for composite designs through complete verification of conformance. The structural-integrity philosophy for composites in current in-service aircraft does not directly accommodate any benefit from these new methods. Allowable strains are kept so low that non-visible defects will not grow and design life is not compromised. Hence the way forward to new lighter designs with greater allowable strains must include not just advanced 3D characterisation at manufacture but also a new structural-integrity philosophy including improved in-service non-destructive testing (NDT). The challenge for the aerospace industry is to make available all of these advances in readiness for the next generation of composite aircraft and give designers the confidence to design for their use. In this paper, suitable 3D NDC methods will be presented together with manufacturing usage strategies such as 3D modelling of the mechanical performance of the as-built structure. Potential new in-service inspection methods will be reviewed and requirements for a new structural integrity philosophy will be presented.
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