Hand-held Nonlinear Guided Wave Imaging (NGWI) System for Composite Missile Structure Inspection

Fiber reinforced polymer composites are increasingly used in aerospace and missile defense industries. However, composite materials are subject to damage during fatigue, mechanical impact, and aging in a service environment. A portable and reliable NDE system is desired that can be carried to field for quick and accurate inspection of composite by a person that does not have much training. We propose to develop a nonlinear guided wave imaging system that can detect small incipient damage in complex composite structures. This novel approach is able to monitor large scale structures with complex geometries and is very sensitive to detect material micro-damage and in inaccessible areas. A physics base damage mapping algorithm will be developed and show intuitively the defect severity and location. The final prototype sensor hardware/software will be effective and low cost.