Marine Composites Non-Destructive Evaluation

An increasing number of marine structures are utilizing composite materials. Major structure and components can be built lighter and corrosion-resistant using composite construction. The recreational boating industry has long recognized this and now commercial ferries are increasingly realizing fuel savings through weight reduction. The US Navy’s DDG-1000 topside structure and LPD-17 advanced enclosed mast are built with composites. Additionally, the offshore oil industry is starting to build composite risers and habitability modules. Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques developed for composite aerospace structures are not viable for large marine structures. Therefore, a state-of-the-art assessment of available NDE techniques for marine composite structures is presented in this paper based on the research performed for SSC report 463, “Inspection Techniques for Marine Composite Construction and NDE.”