SMARTweave: An Electrical NDE System

Abstract

SMARTweave (SW) was patented in May 1993 as an electromagnetic method to monitor the flow of resin in composite manufacturing processes. It has been found to be very rapid and effective for this purpose, and its uses have expanded since this date. Using a Labview software package and 16 conductive nodes, both processes and properties of composite materials can be characterized. SW has specifically been used at our laboratory to investigate the resin transfer molding (RTM) process. The speed of entry of the resin for different composite fabrics can be visually studied and adjusted. Composites are typically difficult to examine with nondestructive evaluation (NDE), so this new technique is a valuable addition. There are eight excitation probes and eight sensor probes, unlike the usual one excitation probe and one sensor probe.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA361610

Entities

People

  • Douglas J. Strand

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Sensors
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Composite Materials
  • Computers
  • Dielectrics
  • Eddy Currents
  • Electric Current
  • Excitation
  • Flow
  • Graphitic Materials
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Military Research
  • Resin Transfer Molding
  • Resins
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Three Dimensional
  • X Rays

Readers

  • Computer Science/Computer Engineering/Data Science/Digital Signal Processing.
  • Medical Imaging.
  • Reinforced Composite Materials