Non destructive testing of artificial defects in composite structures by thermal full field measurement methods

Abstract

International audienceIn order to achieve outstanding performance, it now seeks to optimize more and more the design and process of composite structures. Many applications require specific technical inspections at various steps of the product lifetime to assess their structural health. In such a context, non destructive techniques (NDT) offer an interesting and appropriated tool for the analysis of structural parts. For aviation industry, the AITM standards are precisely based on the NDT ultrasonic testing for the validation of composite structures. Since recent years, the use of full-field measurement NDT as infrared (IR) thermography is developing for their fast execution and analysis (defect mapping in one shot) and for the global inspection aspect. This work consists in characterizing and in comparing three thermal full-field measurement NDT in order to define the defect detection limits, the advantages and the limitations for each technique on multi-layered and sandwich composite structures