The Ultrasonic Polar Scan for Composite Characterization and Damage Assessment: Past, Present and Future

In the early 1980’s, the ultrasonic polar scan (UPS) technique was developed to assess the fiber direction of composites in a nondestructive way. In spite of the recognition by several researchers as being a sophisticated and promising methodology for nondestructive testing (NDT) and materials science, little advance was made during the following 30 years. Recently however, the UPS technique experienced a strong revival and various modifications to the original UPS setup have been successfully implemented. This revival has exposed several powerful capabilities and interesting applications of the UPS technique for material characterization and damage assessment. This paper gives a short historical overview of the UPS technique for characterizing and inspecting (damaged) fiber-reinforced plastics. In addition, a few future research lines are given, which will further expand the applicability and potential of the UPS method to a broader range of (damaged) materials, bringing the UPS technique to the next level of maturity.