Robotic laminography reveals microscopic impact damage in CFRP sandwich panels
Unlike solutions constrained by flat, planar scanning motions and small component sizes, Omni NDE’s NDT methodology is free from movement restrictions, enabling the inspection of larger, more dynamic parts.
Source | Omni-NDE
Omni NDE’s (Ogden, Utah, U.S.) robotic computed laminography system, a derivative of computed tomography (CT) scanning, captured this striking view inside a damaged honeycomb core carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sandwich panel. The resulting image reveals failure mechanisms invisible to conventional inspection methods.
Notably, the 12-micron-resolution scan shows individual carbon fiber breakage, crushed aluminum honeycomb cells with 40-micron-thick septum walls and complex deformation patterns radiating from the impact zone. Unlike circular CT systems constrained by scanner size, Omni NDE's collaborative robots with X-ray-equipped end effectors bridge a critical gap for aerospace manufacturers. It provides volumetric inspection with 5-micron spatial resolution on large structures, and helps engineers visualize bond line discontinuities, fiber damage, voids, delamination and more that ultrasound cannot always adequately characterize. The system is especially important for enabling informed acceptance or rejection decisions on expensive one-off components. It also operates at 50-150 kilovolt peak (kVp) for CFRP inspection, allowing deployment in standard facilities rather than dedicated concrete vaults like those required for dense metal CT scanning.
Read more about the technology in this CW article.
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