Methodology of inspection of polymer composites using self-heating effect

• Dates: 2016-2019
• Place: Silesian University of Technology
• PI: Andrzej Katunin
• Team: Dominik Wachla, Angelika Wronkowicz, Katarzyna Krukiewicz, Roman Turczyn
• Cooperating staff: Sebastian Pawlak
• Funding source: National Science Centre, Poland

The first goal of the performed research was an evaluation of influence of self-heating effect on structural health and stability of composites using the developed complex evaluation methodology. The second goal of the performed research was the new method of non-destructive testing of polymer composites with application of self-heating effect in safe temperature ranges. As the result of the performed research studies, the new non-destructive testing technique, the self-heating based vibrothermography, was developed. The technique uses the phenomenon of self-heating and can be applied in the inspection of land and aircraft vehicles as well as other structures made of polymer composites, where the application of the presently used approach of excitation by thermal impulse of a test piece is not possible.

Representative publications:

Katunin A., Wronkowicz-Katunin A., Wachla D., Impact damage assessment in polymer matrix composites using self-heating based vibrothermography, Composite Structures 214, 2019, 214-226.

Katunin A., Criticality of the self-heating effect in polymers and polymer matrix composites during fatigue, and their application in non-destructive testing, Polymers 11(1), 2019, 19.

Katunin A., Wachla D., Determination of fatigue limit of polymeric composites in fully reversed bending loading mode using self-heating effect, Journal of Composite Materials 53(1), 2019, 83-91.

Katunin A., Wachla D., Analysis of defect detectability in polymeric composites using self-heating based vibrothermography, Composite Structures 201, 2018, 760-765.

Katunin A., A concept of thermographic method for non-destructive testing of polymeric composite structures using self-heating effect, Sensors 18(1), 2018, 74.