Nondestructive Inspection of Metal Matrix Composites Using Guided Waves

Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) have excellent properties such as lightweight and resistance to temperature and wear. For the above advantages to materialize, the Silicon Carbide (SiC) in the MMC must be free of defects such as porosity and disbond between the aluminum and SiC layer. This is a very challenging task. In this Phase II research, Intelligent Automation, Inc. (IAI) together with its supporting companies FBS, Cast Metal Composites, and Surmet will develop and deliver to ARMY a real-time nondestructive inspection prototype hardware that contains a portable data acquisition system and guided wave transducers customized for best defect detection in MMC, advanced signal processing algorithms for defect classification, and graphical user interface for displaying results and interacting with ordinary maintenance engineers who do not have much theoretical background in ultrasonics. Our system offers the following significant advantages: 1) portable, low cost and efficient; 2) able to detect porosity, small and hidden cracks and delaminations; 3) can classify different types of defects such as porosity, crack, disbands, etc. by analyzing the ultrasonic waveforms; 4) has user-friendly interface to help interpret the inspection results. Our Phase I results have clearly demonstrated the feasibility of our proposed approach. However, substantial additional algorithmic and hardware development work is still needed.