Ply Waviness Research Articles

Acoustic microscopy review: Nondestructive inspection of advanced ceramic materials : Kessler, L.W.; Gasiel, T.M. Advanced Ceramic Materials, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 107–109 (Apr. 1987)

This chapter discusses the defects in aerospace composite structures and the ultrasonic techniques used for their non-destructive detection and characterization. The defects discussed include manufacturing defects such as porosity, errors in ply layup or stacking sequence, ply waviness, and service-induced delamination, disbond, crushed core, and microcracks. Ultrasonic inspection of both solid laminates and honeycomb sandwiches is discussed. The techniques addressed include novel processing of C-scan images in water-coupled ultrasonic testing, application of air-coupled ultrasound, and electromagnetically generated shear waves to exploit their strong interaction with fiber direction. In terms of instrumentation, this chapter discusses laboratory systems, stationary systems used in manufacturing environment, and portable inspection systems for field applications.