Non-destructive testing of composites

Abstract

The problem of ensuring the quality of materials and the products manufactured from them determines to a great extent the production profitability, prime product cost, volume of commodity market and competitiveness. This problem of quality control has gained great importance only with the advent of a comparatively new class of materials, namely composites. These are structurally heterogeneous compositions with qualitatively new physical and mechanical properties and service characteristics, the level of which is considerably higher than that of traditional alloys. However, anisotropy of properties, associated with heterogeneity of components and different conditions of production, can promote fault initiation, which is extremely difficult to reveal without destruction of test samples.