TY - GEN
T1 - Automated Immersion Type Ultrasonic C-Scan Inspection of Triangular Thermoset Composite Grid Structures for Aerospace Applications
AU - Durmaz, Tayfun
AU - Telford, Robert
AU - Murray, Brendan R.
AU - Matthews, Kelly
AU - O’Higgins, Ronan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Composite grid architectures, also known as lattices, are a lightweight structural application of fiber-reinforced composite materials. These structures are manufactured by laying down unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite tapes in different principal directions, which overlap at intersection points, forming a grid. The unidirectional elements between intersections are described as ribs, whereas intersection points are names as nodes. While, grid-stiffened composite structures are well known, their application was rare due to the challenges of their complex manufacturing and inspection processes. This work focuses on developing a non-destructive inspection method for composite lattice structures for aerospace applications. Carbon fiber-reinforced thermoset composite triangular grid structures were inspected by ultrasonic immersion type automated C-Scan equipment. Composite lattice inspection calibration samples were developed by inserting different types of artificial defects between the sample prepreg layers during manufacturing. An inspection procedure was developed for these complex structural parts with the aid of these calibration samples. The sensitivity of the scanning process according to the defect size was defined for C-Scan setup.
AB - Composite grid architectures, also known as lattices, are a lightweight structural application of fiber-reinforced composite materials. These structures are manufactured by laying down unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite tapes in different principal directions, which overlap at intersection points, forming a grid. The unidirectional elements between intersections are described as ribs, whereas intersection points are names as nodes. While, grid-stiffened composite structures are well known, their application was rare due to the challenges of their complex manufacturing and inspection processes. This work focuses on developing a non-destructive inspection method for composite lattice structures for aerospace applications. Carbon fiber-reinforced thermoset composite triangular grid structures were inspected by ultrasonic immersion type automated C-Scan equipment. Composite lattice inspection calibration samples were developed by inserting different types of artificial defects between the sample prepreg layers during manufacturing. An inspection procedure was developed for these complex structural parts with the aid of these calibration samples. The sensitivity of the scanning process according to the defect size was defined for C-Scan setup.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85199551821&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2514/6.2023-1324
DO - 10.2514/6.2023-1324
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85199551821
SN - 9781624106996
T3 - AIAA SciTech Forum and Exposition, 2023
BT - AIAA SciTech Forum and Exposition, 2023
PB - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA
T2 - AIAA SciTech Forum and Exposition, 2023
Y2 - 23 January 2023 through 27 January 2023
ER -