Recent developments in quantitative ultrasonic NDE of composites

Abstract

This paper summarizes several recent developments which are facilitating new approaches for both active and passive quantitative ultrasonic measurements in composite materials. These include the development of point sources and point receivers, a theory for analysing the propagation of transient elastic waves through a bounded, dispersive and attenuative medium and the development and implementation of appropriate signal processing algorithms by which the detected ultrasonic signals can be processed to recover the elastic properties of an anisotropic material, the characteristics of wave propagation, or the characteristics of the source. An alternative to these deterministic approaches is a processing scheme based on a simulated intelligent system which processes ultrasonic signals like a neutral network. Examples of applications of these ideas to the ultrasonic NDE of composite materials are given.