ABSTRACT
The application of acoustic wave-based NDE methods is widespread in many engineering disciplines. For civil structures, a common application is ultrasonic testing that is used during the fabrication of metal structures. The method generally consists of launching a high-frequency acoustic wave from a transducer and detecting reflections that occur. Reflections resulting from internal discontinuities such as cracks, voids, and inclusions can be detected and analyzed to estimate the size, location, and shape of the discontinuity. This is the most fundamental application of ultrasonic testing, but many methods of monitoring the behavior of waves propagating in materials exist and have been applied for the nondestructive evaluation of FRP materials. This section will describe several approaches that have been utilized for the detection of defects in FRP-wrapped structures and for characterizing the material properties of FRP composites.
