Conventional nondestructive (NDT) techniques used to detect defects in composites are not able to determine intact bond integrity within a composite structure and are costly to use on large and complex shaped surfaces. To overcome current NDT limitations, a new technology was developed based on quantitative percussion diagnostics (QPD) to better quantify bond quality in fiber reinforced composite materials. Results indicate that this technology is capable of detecting very low shear strength (‘kiss’) bonds between flat composite laminates. Specifically, the local value of the probe force determined from quantitative percussion testing was predicted to be significantly lower for a laminate that contained a ‘kiss’ bond compared to that for a well-bonded sample, which is in agreement with experimental findings. Finite element analysis (FEA) models were developed using MSC PATRAN/NASTRAN to understand the visco-elastic behavior of the laminates during percussion testing. The dynamic FEA models were used to directly predict changes in the probe force, as well as effective stress distributions across the bonded panels as a function of time.
doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/28