ACOUSTOULTRASONIC TECHNIQUE APPLIED TO FILLED-POLYMER DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

An acousto-ultrasonic technique was used to assess cumulative damage i n filled polymers. Advantages of the technique include 1) high sensiti vity, permitting the detection of early damage processes, 2) fast resp onse, permitting rapid and automated inspection, and 3) need for acces s to only one surface of the test article. Two kinds of tests-fracture and loading-unloading tests-were performed on filled-polymer specimen s. In these tests, the energy content and central frequency of acousto -ultrasonic signals were obtained. The acousto-ultrasonic technique ca n be used to determine the damage state in filled polymers.