Detection, characterization and simulation of delamination defects in composite laminates by ultrasound

Abstract

This article presents a simulation of the acoustic interference field detected by a delay line after the interaction of an acoustic field with a multilayer carbon fiber composite material, utilizing the ray approach. The simulation is performed on two composite materials: one intact and the other with a delamination defect. Experimental measurements are conducted on carbon fiber composite plates, both with and without pre-introduced delamination defects, without prior knowledge of their thickness. Each ply's thickness is 0.125 mm. A focusing immersion transducer operating at a frequency of 10 MHz is used. The simulation results closely match the experimental data. The model is further applied to determine the thickness of the induced delamination, which is found to be 0.2 mm, located between the second and third layers.