New Concepts for Quality Assurance of Lightweight Material

Lightweight material became more and more important during the last years. To ensure a defect-free production, effective measurement solutions for quality assurance are necessary. The Laser stripe sensors enable the evaluation of form deviations. For the detection of internal defects thermography provides a suitable solution. On this account the combination of these two non-destructive testing principles gives an opportunity to detect different kinds of defects regarding the outer geometry and the material within the parts. This paper deals with varied concepts to combine laser stripe sensor system and thermography and shows the potential of these methods

Use of thermography and ultrasound for the quality control of SMC lightweight material reinforced by carbon fiber tapes

Growing requirements of Sheet Molding Compound (SMC) parts make new material combinations necessary. One strategy is to reinforce SMC with unidirectional carbon fiber tapes to improve its mechanical properties. As quality assessment of cured parts is necessary, examination of semi-finished materials would be favorable. Two types of nondestructive testing methods, Thermography and Ultrasound, are compared to determine the best control method. These methods are examined on cured plates and semi-finished material to identify defects like air inclusions, delamination, misaligned fibers and microstructural changes. The focus of this paper is an assessment of the testing methods for the manufacturing process