The growth in the extent of applications of composite materials, particularly in commercial
products, has been dramatic and carries an implied mandate for effective methods for material
quality evaluation. The cost of composite materials dictates that non-destructive test methods be
used. At the same time, the nature of composites limits the use of conventional techniques such
as radiography , eddy-current or ultrasonics. Recently, a new technique known as the
Acousto-Ultrasonic (AU) technique, has been developed and appears to hold promise as a method
for the evaluation of composite material quality.
Implementation of the AU method is examined using the zeroth moment method
developed by Henneke et.al. A new parameter termed as Acousto Ultrasonic Factor (AUF) has
been defined for this purpose. The behavior of the AUF response to specimens of known quality
is investigated statistically. It is found that the transformed/actual readings follow a Beta distribution
and that specimens of different quality are readily distinguishable using the statistical analysis of the
AUF response. Reasonable future steps for translating these findings into efficient quality
evaluation methods have been suggested.
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