A review of microwave testing of glass fibre-reinforced polymer composites

ABSTRACT

Microwave non-destructive testing has received extensive attention in recent years owing to its advantages of non-contact inspection, no need for a coupling medium or sensors attached on the object surface, a relatively easy measurement setup and no ionising radiation hazards. As an alternative method, it has been used for monitoring and evaluation of the structural integrity of glass fibre-reinforced polymer composite structures. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the microwave-based techniques for composites, including material characterisation, strain sensing, near-field and far-field damage detection, and microwave-based thermography. Discussions on the research trends are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• Microwave testing
• glass fibre
• composites
• electric permittivity
• non-destructive evaluation

Acknowledgments

This work was funded by Dean’s Doctoral Scholar Award, Faculty of Science and Engineering, The University of Manchester. Special thanks to Professor Robin Sloan (Microwave Inspection Technologies Ltd), Professor Christian Boller (Saarland University, Germany) and Dr Matthieu Gresil for their helpful technical discussions and recommendations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.