Composite Calibration Standards Kit for Interchangeable use in NDI Systems

Several non-destructive inspection (NDI) techniques have been shown to successfully interrogate composite structures and defects at a low cost. However, in order to diagnose defects in unknown parts, a baseline set of data from known reference composite structures is necessary. A set of these reference/calibration standards that can be used interchangeably with the various NDI systems such as ultrasound, radiography and thermography would be extremely useful to make flaw diagnosis more efficient. Innoveyda proposes to develop such a set of composite standards kit for calibration of flaws in unknown composite structures that have to be evaluated. The proposed kit that will be developed will be used as a reference for qualifying damaged composites more effectively with a greater probability of detection. In Phase I, Innoveyda will a) research aircraft composite materials and geometries to prove feasibility of preparing a calibration standard reference parts kit that will provide the benchmark for enabling accurate flaw diagnostics with the range of existing NDE systems, and b) outline detailed designs of the composite calibration structures to be implemented in the Phase-II for calibrating NDE data with currently in-use NDE systems at the Air Force Air Logistic Complexes.