A Review of the Radio Frequency Non-destructive Testing for Carbon-fibre Composites

The purpose of this paper is to review recent research on the applications of existing non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques, especially radio frequency (RF) NDT, for carbon-fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) composites. Electromagnetic properties of CFRP composites that are associated with RF NDT are discussed first. The anisotropic characteristic of the conductivity and the relationship between the penetration depth and conductivity should be paid much attention. Then, the well-established RF NDT including eddy current technique, microwave technique and RF-based thermography are well categorised into four types (i.e. electromagnetic induction, resonance, RF-based thermography and RF wave propagation) and demonstrated in detail. The example of impact damage detection using the induction and resonance methods is given. Some discussions on the development (like industrial-scale automated scanning, three-dimensional imaging, short-range ultra-wideband (UWB) imaging and the radio frequency identification technology (RFID)-based NDT) are presented.