Non-destructive testing of CFRP by laser excited thermography.

Abstract The possibilities for detecting defects in multilayer carbon composites occurring as a combination of layers of carbon fiber fabric with thin layers of epoxy resin (CFRP) are presented in this paper. The most common defect in this type of structure is delamination. For non-destructive testing of CFRP samples with deliberately introduced defects, infrared thermography with laser thermal stimulation was used and both computer numerical simulations (using the ThermoCalc program) and experimental tests were carried out. In the experimental testing, a semiconductor laser with a wavelength of 808 nm and a maximum power of 32 W was used for thermal stimulation. Changes of temperature field on the surface of the test sample were recorded with a thermal camera, FLIR 7600 SC. Both pulsed and lock-in thermography methods were used, and this paper presents selected results, together with their analysis. The results presented in this paper show that it is possible to use a laser as a heating source in thermographic non-destructive testing of CFRP composite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]