Accuracy Assessment of Ultrasonic C-scan and X-ray radiography Methods for Impact Damage ...

The present study introduces two quantitative parameters for comparing the accuracy of ultrasonic C-scan testing and X-ray radiography methods in damaged area detection under low-velocity impact in polymer-based composites. For this purpose, the hand lay-up technique of composite processing was employed to prepare the composite specimen. A composite specimens consisting of glass fiber reinforced with unsaturated polyester resin was considered for this investigation. Impact tests at different energy levels were carried out on this composite specimen to create three damaged areas in it. Because the glass/polyester specimen had a transparent surface, a digital scaer was used to obtain an ideal image from the specimen for presenting the region and edge of the impacted areas in it. Two image quality factors as quantitative parameters were introduced for comparing the ultrasonic C-scan and X-ray radiography results with those of an ideal image. Our results showed that the ultrasonic C-scan is a more accurate method for inspection of the GFRP specimen.