Analyzing the Influence of the Stimulation Duration in the Transient Thermal Test - Experimental and FEM Simulation

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2022

Authors

António Ramos Silva (Author) FEUP; Mário Vaz (Author) FEUP; Sofia Ribeirinho Leite (Author) Other; Joaquim Gabriel Magalhães Mendes (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Experimental Techniques

Pages: 1-14

ISSN: 0732-8818

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 3 Citations

Scopus - 2 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00V-ZQP

DOI: 10.1007/s40799-021-00538-1

Abstract (EN): Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) are among the best performing materials for structural applications due to their low weight and excellent mechanical properties. In various industries, the identification of failures in critical components is part of the common maintenance operations, namely using Non-Destructive Testing (NDT). Among the NDT techniques, Active InfraRed Thermal Tests is one of the most promising ones. This technique consists of the application of a transient energy stimulation and record the temperature evolution during the following cooling phase. The objective of this work was to analyze the influence of the stimulation period in Transient Thermal Testing (TTT). For this purpose, four samples made from Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and one of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) were tested and analyzed. These samples have various slots machined to simulate "defects", with different shape, depth, and width. The samples were tested using the reflection mode and then simulated in MATLAB (R) using a custom-made script that implements the thermal FEM equations. Simulations were performed, for different stimulation periods and thickness made of PMMA and CFRP. The equations derived from these simulations were validated using two more samples, with different defects. This work presents an in-depth analysis of the influence of the stimulation period in the results of TTT. The simulations and the laboratory tests were analyzed to obtain the equations that allow to predict the temperature differences between the sound areas and defects.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 14