Use of Pulse Thermography for Characterization of Defects in Polymer Composites

Abstract: In this project, the possibility of using thermography as a non-destructive testing tool in the manufacturing process of boats and to assess the quality of end-of-life composite structures has been explored. To do so, a literature surview regarding the current applications of thermography and the techniques currently used for quality control in the boats industry has been conducted. Additionally, the set-up of the thermal camera has been improved for the testing and measurements on several composite parts have been performed. Here, the resulting images were analysed regarding different features important for the intended new application, such as existence of delamination, bonding quality, and fibre orientations. The technique appears to be well suited to evaluate the bonding quality in case of glass fibre composite plates and to detect delaminations and other defects in such. Regarding the fibre orientation more studies are needed to judge the practicality.