Beyond imaging the mass distribution of materials by X-ray absorption techniques recent synchrotron and laboratory X-ray refraction techniques provide interface contrast imaging of micro structures. This is of specific relevance to carbon fibre composites (CFRP) which constitute advanced aerospace components. Apart from merely finding isolated flaws like cracks or pores within the natural high ...

Structural health monitoring of composite structures may be accomplished by measuring strains with embedded optical fibre sensors. In this paper, we present the performance of Bragg grating sensors, which are imbedded into a carbon composite laminate and them bonded to the structure in analyse. The paper will briefly discuss the results and compare them with a free fibre Bragg grating bonded in...

Carbon nanofibres were grown at low temperatures on a novel fibre catalyst, palladium particles, using a novel method, growth in fuel rich combustion conditions. The growth of carbon filaments by this process was found to be remarkably rapid. Preliminary analysis of how changes in operating parameters, for example gas flow rate and reactant ratio, showed that fibre diameter and other factors su...

Fibre reinforced plastics are increasing their importance as one of the most interesting groups of material on account of their low weight, high strength and stiffness. To obtain good quality holes, it is important to identify the type of material, ply stacking sequence and fibre orientation. In this paper, the drilling of quasi-isotropic hybrid carbon+glass/epoxy plates is analyzed. Two commer...

Conventional contact sensors used for Lamb wave-based ultrasonic inspection, such as piezo-electric transducers, measure omnidirectional strain and do not allow distinguishing between fundamental symmetric and anti-symmetric modes. In this paper, we show that the use of a single fibre Bragg grating created in a dedicated microstructured optical fibre allows one to directly make the distinction ...