The technology is especially designed for non-destructive and non-contact evaluation of carbon fiber materials without the use of coupling media. The NDT is applicable to both composites and dry carbon fiber fabrics. Three main cases are:
- Analyzing structural parameters of hidden CF layers
- Identifying defects & effects in CF stacks
- Determining local grammage of CF fabrics without contact
Quality Assurance For Carbon Fibers
Inline Roll-to-Roll Testing
Online monitoring of carbon fiber textile production helps to identify the fiber orientation and fiber distribution of inner carbon fiber layers, detect gaps and undulation in non-crimp-fabrics. It enables carbon tow and hybrid-yarn testing and also isotropy monitoring of chopped, recycled carbon fiber mat and non-woven.
Laboratory Testing
Automated Testing
For complex 3D components we offer an OEM integration kit that can be attached to the robot arm as flexible, automatable solution. There is also a rotation sensor for portable and hand-moved arms.
Advantage of Eddy Current Devices
Depending on the K-value of the roving the percentage of inner filaments raises. The higher the K-value, the higher is the percentage of the inner filaments. At the inside of a 12 K roving are about 87 percent of all filaments. It is a huge problem to see inner defects of a roving.
For inline monitoring a fast measurement speed is essential. Optical and eddy current systems are fast enought for inline measurement. But only eddy current measurement systems are able to detect inner defects. By using a camera systems, 87 percent of the defects are unnoticed.
- the eddy current procedure can also detect the conductivity of the carbon roving
- detect the quality of different layers by layers with different angles
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| Advantages | Limits | Feasible for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultrasonic |
Sensitive detection of delamination |
Mostly requires coupling media |
After consolidation: Mechanical processing In-service |
| X-Ray, CT |
Sensitive to inclusion, porosity |
Slow areal scan |
All |
| Camera |
Flexibility |
No inner defects |
All, but limited to surface |
| Searography |
Waviness |
Only (sub)-surface |
After consolidation: Mechanical processing In-service |
| Eddy Current |
Fibre orientation |
No micro cracks |
All, particular well for fabrics |
| Thermography |
Delamination |
Subsurface |
Mainly after consolidation Except lock-in thermography |
Carbon Fiber Testing Equipment
EddyCus® CF inline Series
Fabrics manufacturers and equipment suppliers apply the EddyCus® CF inline for offline mapping and inline monitoring of the basis weight of carbon fabrics. Reasons are the non-contact, small-scale and flexible setups for online process control. This is particularly relevant for UD-tapes or multi-axial fabrics and carbon fiber fleece. It has also potential to characterize the quality of recycled fibers.
EddyCus® CF lab & map Series
EddyCus® CF rob & OEM Kit
The testing system utilizes the electrical conductivity of the carbon fibers togain structural information about the form; for instance, information on fiber orientation and fiber distribution. The high resolution EC- scans also enable defect detection, e.g. gaps, misalignment, wrinkles, overlaps, and even impurities, cracks and delamination. The EddyCus® system can be used at any stage in the production process: for carbon fiber textiles, stacks, preforms or composites. Both basic flat but also curved parts or preforms can be checked by the flexible robotic solution. Therefore, the system particularly helps process engineers or R&D focused groups to evaluate the results of individual production steps.