Infrared Nondestructive Inspection: Seeking a Suitable Insert to Simulate Delamination in a CFRP Laminate

The paper presents results of a search for suitable inserts to simulate the delamination of CFRP laminate to evaluate the ability of active infrared thermography for non-destructive testing of such laminates. Numerical modelling and experimental setup with a CFRP panel with artificial defects were used to verify the suitability of both the selected material and the design of the inserts. Simple inserts from extruded polystyrene and combined cushion-type inserts from PE film and paper proved to be a viable approach.