Abstract
Many areas of the industry use composite materials, because of their good mechanical features in terms of low density and high mechanical strength. Composite materials are used wherever elevated rigidity and strength with reduced unit weight are required; such as wind turbine blades, shipbuilding, aeronautical and aerospace. However, the properties of composites can be hugely affected because of inside defaults such as delaminations or local cracks. Several non-destructive methods have been used for the verification of defects during construction or operation, such as ultrasound or x-ray. These methods are costly and difficult to implement. Non-destructive method using infrared thermography is considered very useful and works perfect with low cost. Two methods of non-destructive detection by infrared exists, which are (i) passive thermography, that consists of measuring infrared stream emitted by the material and (ii) active thermography, which consists of heating the material and measuring the cooling of material surface using an infrared camera. This communication describes the basic principles of both passive and active thermography, and then describes other different methods for detection of composite materials defects.
Highlights
Infrared thermography is a technique that allows nondestructive control of a composite material by an infrared camera.Composite materials are made by assembling of at least different materials
Fiber glass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) is like this increasingly used in ship building industry [2]
We use several methods for active thermography technique including: - Pulsed thermography (PT); - Lock in thermography (LT); - Vibro-thermography stimulated by ultrasound (VTU); - Laser infrared thermography (LT); - Infrared induction thermography (IT)
Summary
Infrared thermography is a technique that allows nondestructive control of a composite material by an infrared camera. Composite materials provide good mechanical performance with a low density and are widely used in the industry like wind turbines, aeronautical, naval and space. Composites are largely used in blades and nacelles of wind turbines. Blades have to be manufactured with strong and lower weight material in order to decrease the cost of the installation. The use of carbon / glass fiber allows producing higher stiffness and lower weight blades [1]. Composite materials offer good mechanical features with weight reduction which results in decreased fuel consumption. Fiber glass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) (which is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibers) is like this increasingly used in ship building industry [2]. Composite material properties are largely affected by the damage of their structure.
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