Moisture content characterization in composite materials based on ultrasonic transmission measurements

Moisture absorption is known to alter many of the mechanical properties of polymer-based composites. This study presents ultrasonic characterization of moisture content based on the transmission of acoustic waves through composite plates. The elastic constants of 14 plates with different controlled water contents are obtained. The redundancy of the results allows to validate the characterization process and the assumption made on the sample symmetry. The sensitivity of the process to moisture content is then discussed. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.