Non-destructive testing of composite materials by means of active thermography-based tools

This paper deals with the analysis, by means of transient active thermography, of a set of inspection patterns made out of different composite materials and configurations that can be found in the wind turbine blade manufacturing industry. The design and manufacturing of these patterns are described, including different types of representative defects, stack configurations and composite manufacturing techniques. Reference samples are then inspected by means of active thermography analysis tools and the results obtained are discussed.