Abstract
Nondestructive testing (NDT) of rehabilitated cement-based materials (RCMs) with carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites is quite important in the transportation and infrastructure industries. Among various NDT methods, active microwave thermography (AMT) has shown good potential. This method uses microwave energy to heat a structure of interest, and subsequently the surface thermal profile is measured using a thermal camera. In this paper, the application of AMT for defect detection (unbond, delamination, and crack) in CFRP composites used in RCMs is presented. More specifically, the effect of defect size and depth and polarization on the resultant surface thermal profile with defects is first studied through simulation. The effect of polarization on detection of defects with regard to the orientation of CFRP fibers is also experimentally investigated. Finally, a quantitative analysis of the measured results based on the thermal contrast and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for all the three aforementioned defect types is presented. The results show that the SNR is improved when utilizing perpendicular (compared with parallel) polarization, and that the maximum effective heating time is $\sim 60$ s, even for small defects.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
