Long-Pulse Thermography Application for Detection and Localisation of Embedded Optical Fibres into Glass Fibre...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Non-Destructive Testing
• Composite Materials

Background:

• Composites are vital in critical applications demanding high safety and reliability.
• Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems using embedded optical fibres ensure continuous integrity assessment.
• Infrared thermography offers a non-destructive approach for internal structure inspection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of pulsed thermography for internal inspection of glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites.
• To differentiate embedded optical fibres from glass textile fibre bundles within GFRP.
• To track the spatial arrangement of optical fibres in GFRP structures.

Main Methods:

• Application of pulsed thermography technique.
• Inspection of glass fibre-reinforced polymer samples with varying optical fibre configurations.
• Analysis of thermal data to identify internal features.

Main Results:

• Pulsed thermography successfully visualized the internal structure of GFRP samples.
• The technique effectively distinguished optical fibres from glass textile fibre bundles.
• The arrangement of embedded optical fibres was accurately tracked.

Conclusions:

• Pulsed thermography is a viable method for non-destructive evaluation of GFRP composites.
• This technique can confirm the presence and location of embedded optical fibres for SHM.
• The study demonstrates the potential of thermography in quality control and integrity assessment of composite structures.