Handheld IR NDI of Composites

As the field has developed, three primary methods for performing IR Nondestructive Inspection (NDI) have emerged, each employing a different mode of excitation (pulsed, stepped, lock-in) of the sample. Researchers have demonstrated impressive results on a wide variety of materials using all three techniques, and each method appears to possess inherent strengths and weaknesses. However, an exhaustive study comparing the three techniques on a well defined set of reference samples has not been performed. Thermal Wave Imaging, Inc. will systematically evaluate each of these IR NDE systems for use in a portable device for quantitative field assessment of impact damage in composite materials. The systems will be evaluated and compared not only on the basis of performance factors (e.g. speed, sensitivity, depth resolution), but also on operational factors (e.g. size, weight, electrical power requirements, ease of use) which determine whether or not a particular system is suitable for use in the field, and can be made sufficiently portable and self contained for use in confined spaces.