An exploration of the utilities of terahertz waves for the NDE of composites

We report an investigation of terahertz waves for the nondestructive evaluation of composite materials and structures. The modalities of the terahertz radiation used were time domain spectroscopy (TDS) and continuous wave (CW). The composite materials and structures investigated include both non‐conducting polymeric composites and carbon fiber composites. Terahertz signals in the TDS mode resembles that of ultrasound; however, unlike ultrasound, a terahertz pulse can detect a crack hidden behind a larger crack. This was demonstrated in thick GFRP laminates containing double saw slots. In carbon composites the penetration of terahertz waves is quite limited and the detection of flaws is strongly affected by the angle between the electric field vector of the terahertz waves and the intervening fiber directions. The structures tested in this study include both solid laminates and honeycomb sandwiches. The defects and anomalies investigated by terahertz waves were foreign material inclusions, simulated disbond and delamination, mechanical impact damage, heat damage, and water or hydraulic fluid ingression. The effectiveness and limitations of terahertz radiation for the NDE of composites are discussed

Signal Modeling in the Far-Infrared Region for Nondestructive Evaluation Applicatinos

Terahertz radiation (a.k.a. T‐ray) has emerged as a powerful inspection technique in recent years. It extends into the lower region of far‐infrared in the electromagnetic spectrum, and has been proven very effective in many NDE applications. T‐ray is particularly useful in some areas where accessibility is difficult or even not possible for other conventional NDE methods. Here we report a modeling effort of T‐ray signal in one such application: the detection of “hidden delamination”, a special situation that a delamination was shadowed by another. This special case was experimentally simulated by two parallel saw‐cuts in glass composites. In this paper, we also explore the feasibility of combing T‐ray and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy using a unified least‐squares scheme for material characterization

Influence of terahertz waves on the fiber direction of CFRP composite laminates

The importance of Carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) are widely utilized due to more high performance in engineering structures. It was well known that a nondestructive technique would be very beneficial. A new terahertz radiation has been recognized for their importance in technological applications. Recently, T-ray (terahertz ray) advances of technology and instrumentation has provided a probing field on the electromagnetic spectrum. The THz-TDS can be considered as a useful tool using general non-conducting materials; however it is quite limited to conducting materials. In order to solve various material properties, the index of refraction (n) and the absorption coefficient (α) are derived in reflective and transmission configuration using the terahertz time domain spectroscopy. However, the T-ray is limited in order to penetrate a conducting material to some degree. Here, the T-ray would not go through easily the CFRP composite laminates since carbon fibers are electrically conducting while the epoxy matrix is not. So, investigation of terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz TDS) was made and reflection and transmission configurations were studied for a 48-ply thermoplastic PPS (poly-phenylene sulfide)-based CFRP solid laminate. It is found that the electrical conductivity of CFRP composites depends on the direction of unidirectional fibers. Also, the T-ray could penetrate a CFRP composite laminate a few ply based on the E-filed (Electrical field) of carbon fibers. The terahertz scanning images were made at the angles ranged from 0° to 180° with respect to the nominal fiber axis. So, the images were mapped out based on the electrical field (E-field) direction in the CFRP solid laminates. Also, using two-dimensional spatial Fourier transform, interface C-scan images were transformed into quantitatively angular distribution plots to show the fiber orientation information therein and to predict the orientation of the ply

NDE Detection and Characterization of Damage in Honeycomb Sandwich Composites

This study deals with a non-destructive evaluation technique for detecting defects in composite panels. In this non-destructive evaluation technique, various low-frequency techniques are applied such as a tapping technology. Another terahertz wave application will be utilized. In particular, the tapping technique is utilized in order to evaluate the characteristics of the honeycomb member based on the hysteresis effect analysis. Here, the area surrounded by the hysteresis loop in the force-displacement curve is related to the increased internal friction loss that is the cause of the energy absorption absorbed by the composite member after the load is applied. The loop area where the composite member was damaged was well agreed with the damage level. Artificial defects were manufactured on the surface of honeycomb sandwich composite panels. An NDE technique was proposed in order to detect defects by using terahertz waves and was discussed for tuning the practical use

Lapatinib, a Dual EGFR and HER2 Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor, Downregulates Thymidylate Synthase by Inhibiting the Nuclear Translocation of EGFR and HER2

Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) has been shown to exert a synergistic antitumor effect when combined with fluoropyrimidine. This synergy may be attributable to the downregulation of thymidylate synthase (TS), which is frequently overexpressed in fluoropyrimidine-resistant cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the downregulation of TS has yet to be clearly elucidated.In this study, we demonstrate that lapatinib, a dual TKI of EGFR and HER2 downregulates TS via inhibition of the nuclear translocation of EGFR and HER2. From our cDNA microarray experiments, we determined that a variety of nucleotide synthesis-related genes, including TS, were downregulated with lapatinib, and this was apparent in HER2-amplified cells. Targeted and pharmacologic inhibition assays confirmed that the dual inhibition of EGFR and HER2 is required for the more effective reduction of TS as compared to what was observed with gefitinib or trasutuzumab alone. Additionally, we determined that co-transfected EGFR and HER2 activate the TS gene promoter more profoundly than do either EGFR or HER2 alone. The translocation of EGFR and HER2 into the nucleus and the subsequent activation of the TS promoter were inhibited by lapatinib.These results demonstrate that lapatinib inhibits the nuclear translocation of EGFR and HER2 and downregulates TS, thus sensitizing cancer cells to fluoropyrimidine

Epidemiologic survey of head and neck cancers in Korea.

Head and neck cancers have never been systematically studied for clinical purposes yet in Korea. This epidemiological survey on head and neck cancer patients was undertaken from January to December 2001 in 79 otorhinolaryngology resident-training hospitals nationwide. The number of head and neck cancer patients was 1,063 cases in the year. The largest proportion of cases arose in the larynx, as many as 488 cases, which accounted for 45.9%. It was followed by, in order of frequency, oral cavity (16.5%), oropharynx (10.0%), and hypopharynx (9.5%). The male:female ratio was 5:1, and the mean age was 60.3 yr. Surgery was the predominant treatment modality in head and neck cancers: 204 (21.5%) cases were treated with only surgery, 198 (20.8%) cases were treated with surgery and radiotherapy, 207 cases (21.8%) were treated with combined therapy of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Larynx and hypopharynx cancers had a stronger relationship with smoking and alcohol drinking than other primary site cancers. Of them, 21 cases were found to be metastasized at the time of diagnosis into the lung, gastrointestinal tract, bone, or brain. Coexisting second primary malignancies were found in 23 cases. At the time of diagnosis, a total of 354 cases had cervical lymph node metastasis accounting for 42.0%

Molecular diagnosis of hereditary spherocytosis by multi-gene target sequencing in Korea: matching with osmotic fragility test and presence of spherocyte

Background Current diagnostic tests for hereditary spherocytosis (HS) focus on the detection of hemolysis or indirectly assessing defects of membrane protein, whereas direct methods to detect protein defects are complicated and difficult to implement. In the present study, we investigated the patterns of genetic variation associated with HS among patients clinically diagnosed with HS. Methods Multi-gene targeted sequencing of 43 genes (17 RBC membrane protein-encoding genes, 20 RBC enzyme-encoding genes, and six additional genes for the differential diagnosis) was performed using the Illumina HiSeq platform. Results Among 59 patients with HS, 50 (84.7%) had one or more significant variants in a RBC membrane protein-encoding genes. A total of 54 significant variants including 46 novel mutations were detected in six RBC membrane protein-encoding genes, with the highest number of variants found in SPTB (n = 28), and followed by ANK1 (n = 19), SLC4A1 (n = 3), SPTA1 (n = 2), EPB41 (n = 1), and EPB42 (n = 1). Concurrent mutations of genes encoding RBC enzymes (ALDOB, GAPDH, and GSR) were detected in three patients. UGT1A1 mutations were present in 24 patients (40.7%). Positive rate of osmotic fragility test was 86.8% among patients harboring HS-related gene mutations. Conclusions This constitutes the first large-scaled genetic study of Korean patients with HS. We demonstrated that multi-gene target sequencing is sensitive and feasible that can be used as a powerful tool for diagnosing HS. Considering the discrepancies of clinical and molecular diagnoses of HS, our findings suggest that molecular genetic analysis is required for accurate diagnosis of HS.Support was provided by: the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MSIT) (NRF-2017R1A2A1A17069780) http://www.nrf.re.kr/

Prevalence and detection of low-allele-fraction variants in clinical cancer samples

Accurate detection of genomic alterations using high-throughput sequencing is an essential component of precision cancer medicine. We characterize the variant allele fractions (VAFs) of somatic single nucleotide variants and indels across 5095 clinical samples profiled using a custom panel, CancerSCAN. Our results demonstrate that a significant fraction of clinically actionable variants have low VAFs, often due to low tumor purity and treatment-induced mutations. The percentages of mutations under 5% VAF across hotspots in EGFR, KRAS, PIK3CA, and BRAF are 16%, 11%, 12%, and 10%, respectively, with 24% for EGFR T790M and 17% for PIK3CA E545. For clinical relevance, we describe two patients for whom targeted therapy achieved remission despite low VAF mutations. We also characterize the read depths necessary to achieve sensitivity and specificity comparable to current laboratory assays. These results show that capturing low VAF mutations at hotspots by sufficient sequencing coverage and carefully tuned algorithms is imperative for a clinical assay

NDE Detection Techniques and Characterization of Aluminum Wires Embedded in Honeycomb Sandwich Composite Panels Using Terahertz Waves

For many years, scientists have been aware of the importance of terahertz waves (T-rays), which have now emerged as an NDE (nondestructive evaluation) technique for certain ranges of the electronic spectrum. The present study deals with T-ray scanning techniques of honeycomb sandwich composite panels with a carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) skin as well as the refractive index (n), and the electrical conductivity (α) of glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites. For this experiment, the degree of penetration to FRP composites is investigated for the THz transmitted power based on the angle in the electric field (E-field) direction vs. the direction of the unidirectional carbon fibers. Also, when CFRP skin honeycomb sandwich panels are manufactured for use in aerospace applications, aluminum wires are twisted together into the one-sided surface of the honeycomb sandwich panels to protect against thunderstorms. The aluminum wires are partly visible because they are embedded in the CFRP skin on the honeycomb sandwich panels. After finishing work with a paintjob, the wires become invisible. Thus, detecting the aluminum wires is a key issue for product monitoring. Based on a simple resistor model, an optimal scanning method is proposed to determine the preferred scan orientation on the baseline of the E-field in the direction of fibers to evaluate the level of transmission of T-rays according to the frequency bandwidth. Thus, the combination of angles required to detect the aluminum wires embedded with carbon fibers on the surface of the composite panels can be determined

A Study on the Nondestructive Evaluation of Carbon/Carbon Brake Disks Using Ultrasonics

Owing to the advantage of very large strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios, composite materials are attractive for a wide range of applications. Increasingly, more and more high performance engineering structures are being built with critical structural components made from composite materials. Especially, carbon/carbon (C/C) composites are one of the few materials that are suitable for structural applications at high temperature environments. One such application is an aircraft brake disk. As compared to steel brakes, carbon/carbon brakes are lighter by about 40% and last twice as long in terms of the number of landings per overhaul [1]. Aircraft brake manufactures are therefore making brake disks and rotors out of carbon/carbon composites [2,3]. Aircraft brakes are critical components that serve multiple functions: they are the friction member, the heat sink elements, and the structural elements. To ensure product quality and structural integrity, nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods [4,5] are needed for inspecting carbon/carbon brake disks and rotors. Ultrasonic testing is capable of revealing material inhomogeneity and internal defects. More importantly, the velocity of ultrasonic waves is related to the elastic stiffness of the material in a direct relationship.</p