Publications

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At present, there are many methods to identify the temperature and phase of a material using invasive techniques. However, most current methods require physical contact or implicit methods utilizing light reflectance of the specimen. This work presents a nondestructive inspection method using ultrasonic wave technology that circumvents these disadvantages to identify phase change regions and infer the temperature state of a material. In the present study an experiment is performed to monitor the time of flight within a wax as it undergoes melting and the subsequent cooling. Results presented in this work show a clear relationship between a material's speed of sound and its temperature. The phase change transition of the material is clear from the time of flight results, and in the case of the investigated material, this change in the material state occurs over a range of temperatures. The range of temperatures over which the wax material melts is readily identified by speed of sound represented as a function of material temperature. The melt temperature, obtained acoustically, is validated using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), which uses shifts in heat flow rates to identify phase transition temperature ranges. The investigated ultrasonic NDE method has direct applications in many industries, including oil and gas, food and beverage, and polymer composites, in addition to many implications for future capabilities of nondestructive inspection of multi-phase materials.

Ultrasound techniques are capable of monitoring changes in the time-of-flight as a material is exposed to different thermal environments. The focus of the present study is to identify the phase of a material via ultrasound compression wave measurements in a through transmission experimental setup as the material is heated from a solid to a liquid and then allowed to re-solidify. The present work seeks to expand upon the authors' previous research, which proved this through transmission phase monitoring technique was possible, by considering different experimental geometries. The relationship between geometry, the measured speed of sound, and the temperature profile is presented. The use of different volumes helps in establishing a baseline understanding of which aspects of the experiment are geometry dependent and which are independent. The present study also investigates the relationship between the heating rate observed in the experiment and the measured speed of sound. The trends identified between the experimental geometry, heat rate and ultrasound wave speed measurement assist in providing a baseline understanding of the applicability of this technique to various industries, including the polymer industry and the oil industry.

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Woven fiber, laminated composites allow the design engineer to create high strength parts, but the effectiveness of the final processed part is greatly diminished through weak or nonexistent bonds between the composite and the substrate to which it is bonded. Additionally, these layered laminates are commonly made by curing the resin infused carbon fiber fabrics in predefined layers and then bonding them to another composite or a metallic structure using either a pre-cure or a co-cure method. The focus of this study is the identification of the defect caused by a disbond or a delamination located at the interface between a composite laminate stack and the substrate to which it is bonded. We present a nondestructive approach using various ultrasonic methods to identify the existence of the bond between composite and composite-to-metal interface. This paper explores contact and immersion ultrasound methods using pulse-echo for evaluating the composite material and adhesive bondline and the signal attenuation undergone by the wave as it propagates through the composite. Finally, a summary of the detection and analysis techniques developed to identify disbonds, including Fast Fourier Transform analysis of the immersion data, is presented. Lastly, each of the methods evaluated in this study is able to detect the transition from bonded to unbonded sections at the bondline from either side of the bonded part, with the immersion technique providing a significantly higher resolution of the edge of the bondline.

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