A constant-frequency ultrasonic phase method for monitoring imperfect adherent/adhesive interfaces.

A primary mechanism of adhesive bond failure is a degradation of the adherent/adhesive interfacial stiffness from unwanted contamination or exposure to those environmental factors, which reduce adhesion quality. Substantial research has been conducted on the assessment of adhesively bonded structures and the detection of "kissing" bonds. Advanced ultrasonic assessment methods to interrogate bonded joints and measure interfacial stiffness using a distributed spring interface model have been developed.

Swept-frequency ultrasonic phase evaluation of adhesive bonding in tri-layer structures.

As modern aerospace and automotive designs continually strive for higher performance, and thus rely on advanced composite structures where adhesive bonding is a preferred method of joining, the need for a robust quantitative nondestructive bond strength measurement method has increased. As such, advanced nondestructive evaluation methods have been researched for increased sensitivity to weak interfacial bonding and ultimately to detect "kissing" bonds. In this work, a phase-based method for interrogating bonded joints and detecting weak adhesion is developed by using swept-frequency phase measurements of ultrasonic waves reflected from an adhesive joint and modeling adhesive interfaces as a distributed spring system.