ISSN: 1945-7553
CODEN: JTEVAB
Published Online: 16 August 2011
Page Count: 12

Inspections of Helicopter Composite Airframe Structures using Conventional and Emerging Nondestructive Testing Methods

Liew, Chin Kian
The Univ. of Queensland,

Veidt, Martin
The Univ. of Queensland,

Rajic, Nik
Air Vehicles Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation,

Tsoi, Kelly
Air Vehicles Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation,

Rowlands, David
Air Vehicles Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation,

Morton, Howard
Air Vehicles Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation,

(Received 28 February 2011; accepted 24 June 2011)

Abstract

This paper presents nondestructive testing (NDT) results and analysis from the inspection of composite specimens representing typical helicopter parts. The specimens include monolithic laminates produced from carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), Nomex honeycomb core sandwich panels with CFRP skins, and CFRP frame-skin joint panels. External protection layers comprising copper mesh and fiberglass were also included in the specimens. These panels were fabricated with a wide range of defects to simulate helicopter in-service damage including delamination and skin-core disbond along with barely visible impact damage. The study aims to assess a number of conventional and emerging NDT techniques suitable for rapid in situ and off-site inspection of helicopter composite structures. The techniques considered are flash and sonic thermography, radiography, and different ultrasonic inspection modes including pulse-echo, through-transmission, and phased array. These techniques are compared on their ability to detect and characterize the fabricated defects.

Keywords:
aerospace composite materials, ultrasonics, radiography, thermography, defect evaluation

Paper ID: JTE103842
DOI: 10.1520/JTE103842
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