Systems and methods are provided for thermal inspection of tape layup. One embodiment is a method for performing inspection of a tape layup. The method comprises laying up tape onto a surface of a laminate, applying heat to tack the tape to the surface, and generating thermographic images of the tape as applied to the surface.

A method and system for determining the quality and configuration of a structure that is constructed from a thermoformable material, such as a thermoplastic or thermoset material, and in particular thermoplastic composite tapes, where heat is applied to cure the thermoformable material. The quality of the build is monitored during the construction of the structure by determining the differential heat flux in the material as it cools from its elevated temperature. The system and method also may determine the location of defects in a structure being constructed so that remedial measures may be taken or production operations halted to address the defect. A transient thermal effect is applied to the structure being monitored, such as the thermoformable material being applied, which may be implemented from the applied heating of the thermoformable construction application process or additional heating.

A system includes at least one sensing device located within a structure being built as part of a construction project. The sensing device obtains measurements relating to a first characteristic of concrete of the structure and transmits the data wirelessly. The system also includes a memory, and a processor adapted to receive the data from the sensing devices, determine a second characteristic of the concrete based on the data, and generate a schedule of activities based on the second characteristic. The schedule may be a project schedule specifying tasks associated with the construction project. The processor is also adapted to cause at least one activity to be performed based on the schedule of activities.

A system for providing active real-time characterization of an article under test. A broadband infrared light source outputs a beam of infrared light. The infrared light source is configured to direct the beam of infrared light at a particular area on the article under test. A broadband IR light detector is configured to receive a first predetermined return beam of light from the particular area on the article under test. A processor receives signals from the broadband IR light detector and calculates in real time a spectrally sensitive signal. The processor analyzes the calculated signal to ensure that the article under test conforms to an expected value.

A wafer measurement apparatus for measuring a bonding strength of a bonded wafer includes a wafer holder to hold a bonded wafer into which a blade is inserted and where a crack occurs, a lighting assembly including a light source, a light source controller to select the light source of the lighting assembly for detection of the crack reflected in the bonded wafer, on photographing conditions, a photographing assembly to photograph the bonded wafer by using the photographing conditions corresponding to a wavelength of the light source, on sensitivity of the wavelength of the light source, and a calculator to select one photographing condition, transmit the selected photographing condition, and calculate bonding strength, on a crack distance from a blade edge, extracted from an image of the bonded wafer, to a crack edge.

The invention relates to the field of research and analysis of materials, in particular, to methods for testing the integrity of components produced from carbon fiber based composite materials, and can be used to detect manufacturing defects and damages received during service in components produced from carbon fiber reinforced composite materials.

The claimed method for non-destructive testing of carbon fiber reinforced composite materials includes heating the material with an external source, recording the temperature distribution pattern of the tested material, analyzing the recorded temperature distribution pattern and detecting the presence of defective areas, wherein the material is heated by exposing the carbon fiber included in the material to a high-frequency electromagnetic field.

Thus, the claimed invention is a method for non-destructive testing of the components produced from carbon fiber reinforced composite materials which allows for an efficient and reliable assessment of their condition over the entire depth of the material structure without exposing the coating layers to excessive load, if any.

Provided are a method and device for detecting arrangement disorder of fibers in a conductive composite material. A coil (7) is disposed at a position at which the coil (7) faces the conductive composite material, and thereby a current can be applied to the conductive composite material. Thus, work or the like for attaching electrodes to the conductive composite material is not required. As a result, the arrangement disorder of the fibers in the conductive composite material can easily be detected. A method for detecting meandering of fibers in a conductive composite material includes a step of disposing a magnetic field sensor (8) at a position at which the magnetic field sensor (8) faces a surface (Sa) of the conductive composite material such that a direction (D) of a magnetosensitive axis is horizontal with the surface (Sa) and is parallel to coil faces (7e). Therefore, the magnetic field sensor (8) measures a magnetic field, and thereby a portion at which the arrangement disorder of the fibers in the conductive composite material is present can be detected.

The disclosed technology relates to a method of selecting a material composition and/or designing an alloy. In one aspect, a method of selecting a composition of a material having a target property comprises receiving an input comprising thermodynamic phase data for a plurality of materials. The method additionally includes extracting from the thermodynamic phase data a plurality of thermodynamic quantities corresponding to each of the materials by a computing device. The extracted thermodynamic quantities are predetermined to have correlations to microstructures associated with physical properties of the material. The method additionally includes storing the extracted thermodynamic quantities in a computer-readable medium. The method further includes electronically mining the stored thermodynamic quantities using the computing device to rank at least a subset of the materials based on a comparison of at least a subset of the thermodynamic quantities that are correlated to the target property.

In one version there is provided a test system including a layup tool having a layup surface, and two fairing bars attached to the layup surface. The test system includes the composite laminate having a plurality of stacked plies, and positioned between the two fairing bars. The test system includes fiber distortion initiator(s) positioned at one or more locations under, and adjacent to, one or more plies of the plurality of stacked plies. The test system includes two caul plates with a gap in between, and positioned over the composite laminate. When the test system undergoes a pressurized cure process with a vacuum compaction, a restricted outward expansion of the plurality of stacked plies by the fairing bars, and a pressure differential region formed by the one or more fiber distortion initiators at the one or more locations, create the controlled and repeatable out-of-plane fiber distortion in the composite laminate.

A system includes at least one sensing device located within a structure being built as part of a construction project. The sensing device obtains measurements relating to a first characteristic of concrete of the structure and transmits the data wirelessly. The system also includes a memory, and a processor adapted to receive the data from the sensing devices, determine a second characteristic of the concrete based on the data, and generate a schedule of activities based on the second characteristic. The schedule may be a project schedule specifying tasks associated with the construction project. The processor is also adapted to cause at least one activity to be performed based on the schedule of activities.