12/17/2016 NondestructiveBondTestingforAircraftComposites

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Nondestructive Bond Testing for Aircraft Composites

Application

Reliable bonds are essential to the integrity of aircraft

composite structures throughout their service life. Therefore,
NDT methods have been developed to assess bonding
quality during maintenance. This application note reviews
severalmethodsrecentlydevelopedtoimprovethereliability
ofinspection.

Background

The use of composites in aircraft manufacturing is growing

dramatically. The main airframe manufacturers like Boeing
and Airbus have significantly increased the use of
composites in their commercial aircraft. While almost the
entire fuselage of the Boeing 787 is made of composite, the
AirbusA380andA350alsoincorporatesignificantcomposite
structures. Regional and business jet manufacturers also
increased their use of composite. The same growth is being
observed in military aircraft such as F22 fighters and A400
transports.

Because aircraft structures are subjected to impacts and

lightningstrikes,reliableandefficientNondestructiveTesting
(NDT) methods are needed to quickly assess possible
damage. The methods and the necessary instruments have
to be easy to use by NDT inspectors all around the world to
assure consistency of test results during maintenance
checks.

Impactsonaircraftstructurescancausedifferenttypesofdamagetocompositestructures.Thedamagewillvarydependingof
thenatureofthecompositepart,itscomposition,anddensity.Oncompositelaminatedstructures,defectscreatedbyimpactare
mainly delaminations between different plies of the fuselage and wing skin. But impact can also cause disbonds between the
skinandthestiffeners.Suchdisbondcansignificantlyhurttheintegrityofthestructures.Laminatedstructurescomprise mainly
thefuselageoftheB787aswellastheA350.

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Figure1:Delaminationinalaminatedstructure

Composite sandwich structures, composed of a sandwich of honeycomb core structures (NOMEX, etc) between laminated
carbonskins,presentdifferenttypesofdamage.Thefollowingdefectscanbefoundafteranimpact:
TypeAdelaminationbetweenpliesofouterCFRPskin,paralleltosurface
TypeBdisbondingbetweentheouterskinandthehoneycombcore
TypeCcrackedhoneycombcoreparalleltotheinspectionsurface
TypeDcrushedhoneycombcoreinparallelarea
TypeEdisbondingbetweeninnerskinandhoneycombcore
TypeFfluidingressinhoneycombcore

Figure2:Damagesinacompositesandwichstructure

SolutionsandEquipment

MultiModeAcousticBondTesting

The Olympus Bondmaster 600 is a multimode ultrasonic adhesive bond testing instrument that uses a pitchcatch mode,
mechanical impedance analysis (MIA), and resonance testing to inspect composite materials. This instrument has long been
usedonmostexistingaircraft,butnewmethodsweredevelopedrecently.

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Figure3:OlympusBondMaster600

The pitchcatch modes are used to inspect composite materials containing honeycomb structures. The transmitter sends
acoustic energy into the part, which is received by the receiver. In a bonded condition, a portion of the acoustic energy is
attenuatedbythecomponentsofthestructure.Whentheprobeisplacedoveradisbondedarea,theamountofenergyreturned
tothereceiverisgreater,resultinginanamplitudechange.

Figure4:Bondtestingpitchcatchmode

An adaptation of this technique was recently developed to allow reliable detection of a disbond (area 25 mm (1 in.) x 25 mm.)
located on the far side below 40 mm of honeycomb structure, like a type E defect. A new differential high voltage probe was
specificallydesignedforadifficultandtimeconsuminginspectionofanAirbusairplane.Thisremarkableresultisnowreferenced
inanAirbusservicebulletin.

ConventionalUltrasonicTesting

Ultrasound is the most widely used technique for inspecting composite structures. There are a large variety of appropriate
ultrasonic instruments available. Typically, ultrasound travels very well in composite laminated structures and it can detect
anomalies quite easily. Unfortunately, in sandwich structures the ultrasound is extremely attenuated due to the inhomogeneity
andlowdensityofthecorestructure.Therefore,theuseofultrasoundforsandwichstructuresrequiresmorespecializedfeatures

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ininstruments.

In a manufacturing environment, large sandwich panels are inspected with through transmission methods in which a relatively
high amplitude ultrasound beam travels through the part and a receiving transducer located on the other side measures
attenuationofthesignal.ResultsaretypicallypresentedasCscanimages.Thattechniqueiswidelyusedandisveryreliable.
But it is impossible to use this technique in a maintenance environment as the required access from both sides of the aircraft
structureisimpossible.

Nevertheless,ultrasoundallowsdetectionofinnerandouterskindisbonds,presenceoffluids,andcrushedcores.Lowfrequency
transducers and tracking of the backwall signal is necessary and must be used in a very intelligent way. Delamination of the
outerskinanddisbondsbetweenouterskinandthecorearecharacterisedbyatotalattenuationofthebackwallsignal.

A technique was recently developed to detect disbonds between the inner skin and the core. The technique uses a broad
bandwidth1MHzprobewhenexcitedbyapowerfulsquarewavepulsecreatesresonanceinthestructureunderneaththeprobe.
The instrument's receiver filter is tuned to the thickness of the structure and to work at the corresponding halfwavelength.
Presenceofadisbondwillreducethestiffnessofthestructurecausingaresonanceshifttolongerwavelength,andthereforethe
resonance frequency will diminish. A 25 mm (1 in.) x 25 mm disbond on the inner structure will cause a backwall signal
attenuationof6to12dbduetothatphenomenon.

Figure5:Ultrasonicresonancetechniqueprinciple

The EPOCH 650 ultrasonic flaw detector with its high voltage pulse, the quality of its square pulse and selectable narrowband
filtersistheinstrumentofchoiceforthistechnique.

Figure6:OlympusEPOCH650

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PhasedArrayUltrasonicTesting

Newtechnologieslikeultrasonicphasedarrayalsohaverecentdevelopments.Portableandeasytouseunitsarenowavailable
on the market. The OmniScan PA is already referenced in maintenance manuals of aircraft manufacturers for various
applications,includingimpactdamagedetectionincompositelaminatedstructures

Forsuchstructures,thelinearscancapabilityisused.Theinstrumentperformsazerodegreelinearinspectioncoveringalarge
area in one pass. Combined with the use of a portable scanner like the Glider, the system displays results in a Cscan image
whichgiveanintuitivemappingofthestructuresinspected.Thecombineduseofimageandscannerincreasethereliabilityand
thespeedoftheinspection.

Figure7:OlympusOmniScanPAandGLIDERforcompositeinspection

HandheldRampDamageChecker

While a lot of effort has been put into creating new methods and instrument for NDT technicians, the increasing use of aircraft
withcompositestructurehascreatedtheneedtoquicklycheckforimpactdamageattheairportduringplaneturnaround.AsNDT
technicianarenotavailableinallairportsoftheworld,instrumentshavebeendesignedtobeusedbynontechnicianstodetect
possibledelaminationduetoimpact.

The 35RDC is a simple, go/nogo ultrasonic instrument, created for the inspection of the new Boeing 787 aircraft and other
composite structures. It was designed to be used by non NDTtrained personnel to detect subsurface impact damage on solid
laminatestructures(nothoneycombstructures).TheconceptwasdevelopedandthenpatentedbyBoeing,andisbasedonthe

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wellestablishpulse/echotechnique.The35RDCisnowreferencedintheB787StructuralRepairData.

Figure8:Olympus35RDC(RampDamageChecker)

Products used for this application

NEW

35RDC BondMaster 600

The35RDCisasimpleGo/NoGoultrasonicgagedesignedto
detect subsurface defects caused by impact damage on
aircraft composite structures. Features a backlit LCD that
displaysthewordGOODifnosubsurfacedamageisfoundor
thewordBADwhenitdetectssubsurfacedamage.
TheportableBondMaster600deliversapowerfulcombination
of multimode bond testing software and highly advanced
digital electronics for the nondestructive inspection of
honeycomb and laminate composites and metaltometal
bonds.

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