Embedded Acoustic Sensors for Process Control and Health Monitoring of Composite Materials

Abstract

The past few years have seen a marked increase in the use of composite materials for structural applications, many of which put such high demands on the components that they operate just within their performance limits. To ensure that these composite components possess the high reliability and uniformity necessary for critical applications, it is desirable to carefully control the production environment. Although there are numerous facets to composite production, this paper focuses on in-situ monitoring of the cure process.