Material characterization of GFRP by ultrasonics

Abstract

In general, material selection for an application depends on its mechanical properties such as the young’s modulus, shear modulus and bulk modulus. There is no material science without material characterization. The conventional mechanical testing involves breaking of the test piece while determining the mechanical properties, thus rendering the sample piece useless after testing. Moreover, conventional testing machines are bulky and costly. Non–destructive testing techniques were most commonly used for the detection and characterization of flaws. But in the past few decades many researchers are conducting experiments to even calculate material properties using NDT methods. In the present work an attempt has been made to use a NDT technique, namely Ultrasonic testing, to determine the mechanical properties of three Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) plates (Unidirectional, Bidirectional & cross directional).