Highlights of NASA's Role In Developing State-Of-The-Art Nondestructive Evaluation For Composites

Since the 1970's, when the promise of composites was being pursued for aeronautics applications, NASA has had programs that addressed the development of NDE (NonDestructive Evaluation) methods for composites. These efforts included both microscopic and macroscopic NDE. At the microscopic level, NDE investigations interrogated composites at the submicron to micron level to understand a composite's microstructure. A novel microfocus CT system was developed as well as the science underlying applications of acoustic microscopy to a composite's component material properties. On the macroscopic scale NDE techniques were'developed that advanced the capabilities to be faster and more quantitative. Techniques such as stiffness imaging, ultrasonic arrays, laser based ultrasound, advanced acoustic emission, thermography, and novel health monitoring systems were researched. Underlying these methods has been a strong modeling capability that has aided in method development.