IN-PROCESS MONITORING; AUTOMATED DECISION-MAKING; AND PROCESS CONTROL FOR COMPOSITE MANUFACTURING USING PART-REFERENCED PLY-BY-PLY INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY AND OTHER NON-CONTACT NON-DESTRUCTIVE INSPECTION

摘要

Method and apparatus for detecting defects in a composite is provided. After a ply of material for a workpiece is positioned, thermal energy is applied to a top surface of the ply of material, and a digital thermographic camera captures images of the top surface. A computer processor determines heat characteristics of the top surface to identify regions of the top surface with different heat characteristics. Such different areas are identified as regions that include a defect. The defect regions can be repaired prior to disposing additional plies of material over previously-applied plies. (Fig. 1)