Impact Damages Detection on CFRP Using Eddy Current Pulsed Thermography

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) materials are widely used in aerospace due to their low weigh to strength ratio. Non-destructive Testing (NDT) Techniques becomes a necessity with increasing use of CFRP materials. Induction Thermography is a new NDT technique that can be exploited as a promising fast and global control. However, the detection of typical flaws in carbon composites such as delamination, fibers rupture and impact damages need to be further investigated in order to optimize the technique. Optimization can be done in the test configuration level and by the use an appropriate image technique. In this paper Eddy Current Pulse Compression Thermography (ECPuCT) is used to detect impact damages on CFRP materials. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) based image processing technique is used to detect and visualize impact damage area from transient thermal images. Flaw detection results using experimental measures will be shown and discussed.