Identification of defects in the inner layers of composite components based on capacitive sensing

This paper describes the development and validation of a rapid internal defect detection method for multilayer composite components. Coplanar array capacitive imaging is based on electrical capacitance tomography, in which all electrodes are arranged in a single plane. The coplanar array capacitive sensor system is based on the capacitive edge effect and reconstructs the dielectric distribution in the sensitive area by measuring the capacitance of the sensor. A 4 × 3 array of coplanar electrode sensors is established and used to image the defects in the inner layers of multilayer composite components. Using a 3D model of the sensor and the sensitivity field, the variation pattern of the sensitivity field is analyzed. By placing different objects into the sensitivity area of the system, changes in the dielectric constant can be observed. Multilayer composite components with void defects are placed in the measurement area for defect detection. The dielectric distribution is visualized by reconstruction algorithms from the capacitance data and sensitivity field data. The results show that the imaging system based on a coplanar array capacitive sensor can reproduce the location of defects and realize the nondestructive testing of complex multilayer composite components.