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2011) and a public workshop in Rome ( June 2011), where the results of the project were shown and detailed, the ComPair Consortium is looking for potential partnerships with industrial surface transport manufacturers in order to continue their research, validate their efforts and envisage a future commercialization. The consortium’s research prospects within 5 years are the following: - partnerships with industrial companies to test, develop, improve and commercialize the robotic scanner developed during the project, which will then create new employment opportunities; - creation of a spin-off in order to continue the development of the robotic scanner and the technology combining AE and GW; - new European project with a new topic but with ComPair background. n
More information: www.compairproject.com Contact: kenneth.burnham@twi.co.uk References [1] A. A. Pollock, “Acoustic Emission Inspection”, Metals Handbook, Ninth Edition, Volume 17, ASM International, 1989, pp. 278-294. [2] NOESIS Ver.5.6, Envirocoustics, User’s Manual. [3] D. Papasalouros, D. Kourousis, A. Anastasopoulos, C. Ennaceur, P.T. Cole, “Real-Time Damage Location and Assessment in Composite Structures”, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Emerging Technologies in Non Destructive Testing, 19-21 September 2011, UOI, Ioannina, Greece. [4] Bin Luo, Bjorn Liebenberg, Jeff Raymont, SP Santospirito, “Automatic Thermographic Image Defect Detection of Composites”, Thermosense: Thermal Infrared Applications XXXIII (Proceedings of SPIE Volume 8013), SPIE, 6 May 2011

Fig. 3: The ComPair software manages the entire inspection process including analysis of the NIR and FIR thermographic images and «sentencing» of the inspection against the acceptance criteria (KCC©)

Conclusion: project status and next steps and opportunities
The ComPair robotic scanner is a working prototype for research purposes. It can assess curved composite panels (carbon fibre, glass fibre) with reliably good results. In due course, the system functionality and specifications will be adapted to the specific needs of each industrial application. The dual inspection technique using AE and LRU testing has been validated on composite panels under tensile and compressive loads. The acquired results are particularly promising and further tests will be conducted to optimize and adapt this innovation to industrial cases. The real-time monitoring system proposed in the ComPair project is believed to be able to reduce the need for maintenance of transport infrastructures for surface transport modes using advanced, non-invasive and environment-friendly NDT inspection techniques. In particular, this system will continually monitor the composite panels in vehicles in order to minimize the risk of unexpected failure and hence extend the in-service life cycle of such components. The newly developed

ComPair technologies will provide the transport sector with valuable data and information about the integrity of composite structures and their ageing process, thus improving confidence in the use of composite materials and promoting green transports such as rail. The consortium believes that in addition to the above, several other impacts will be achieved by the completion of the project: - reduction of CO2 emissions by reducing the weight of structures through the use of composites; - potential use of this technology in other sectors where composites are utilized (e.g. aerospace, oil and gas, renewable energy); - maintenance of employment levels and creation of new skills; - possibility of expanding the project results to other sectors; - valuable knowledge for the potential development of a new European standard on composites and repairs, structural health monitoring and NDT assessment. Following an exhibition at the JEC Composites Show in Paris (March

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #70 - January/February 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #70 - January/February 2012