Cross-correlation-based approach for thermal non-destructive characterisation of carbon fibre reinforced plastics

This paper highlights the applicability of the correlation-based pulse compression approach to thermal wave imaging for non-destructive characterisation of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) material. Experiments have been carried out to detect flat-bottom holes and inclusions of various diameters in a CFRP specimen with a recently proposed correlation-based pulse compression (matched filter) approach for frequency modulated thermal wave imaging. Experimental results show the capabilities of the proposed method and the adopted image processing techniques for detecting subsurface defects in composite materials.