Developing a high-fidelity knowledge base for improvements in the nondestructive testing of advanced composite material products

Abstract With the application of composites driven by an industry need to replace conventional materials, products must be designed to a lightweight criterion with safety margins essential to guarantee consumer safety. Non-destructive testing is used to ensure that safety and confirm that a component is fit for purpose. To improve inspection processes, the National Composites Centre, UK, aims to address gaps in understanding the state-of-the-art of inspection methods in the composites industry. This paper describes an opportunity to further inspection understanding through the development of a novel high-fidelity knowledge base mapping material, component, and defect configuration to capabilities and limitations of selected detection methods. Using the proposed methodology, component and method criteria are used to establish a capability matrix. This matrix captures the evaluation of first iteration experimental testing of reference components. Deployment is expected to provide validated applicability data to support knowledge-based decision making for a range of inspection applications.