ASSESSMENT OF COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AS AN IMPROVED QUANTITATIVE NON DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION TECHNIQUE FOR COMPOSITE MATERIALS

A METHOD OF DEMONSTRATING COMPUTER TOMOGRAPHY (CT) AS A QUANTITATIVE NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION TOOL FOR LOW TEMPERATURE COMPOSITES IN PROPOSED. THE FEASIBILITY OF CT APPLIED TO FLAT LAMINATE PLATE AND FILAMENT WOUND CYLINDRICAL SPECIMENS FABRICATED FROM GLASS FIBER/EPOXY AND GRAPHITE FIBER/EPOXY WILL BE INVESTIGATED. THE SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL AND MEDICAL SCANNERS WILL BE EXPLORED, AS WILL THE SENSITIVITIES OF CT DATA TO MATERIAL DENSITITES AND GEOMETRIES. PHYSICAL TESTING OF SPECIMENS AND A COMPREHENSIVE LITERATURE SEARCH WILL BE CONDUCTED TO ESTABLISH A CORRELATION BETWEEN VARIOUS ANOMALIES AND FLAWS (WHICH ARE QUANTIZED BY CT) AND THE DEGRADATION OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES. A LIMITED MATERIALS PROPERTY MODEL CORRELATING DENSITY AND SELECTED MECHANICAL PROPERTIES WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE FEASIBILITY OF USING CT DATA AS AN INPUT TO A FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS WILL BE INVESTIGATED.