A Fiber Optic Ultrasonic System to Monitor the Cure of Epoxy

A fiber optic ultrasonic system is described which monitors the cure of an epoxy resin. Ultrasound is generated using a high-power optical fiber to deliver high-energy pulses of light to the prepared surface of an aluminum mold that contains the curing epoxy resin. The generated ultrasound is detected using a local fiber optic ultrasound sensor embedded in the curing epoxy resin. The system was used to measure the ultrasonic signal velocity and ultrasonic attenuation throughout the cure of a neat epoxy resin at room temperature. Similar measurements also were performed using a piezoelectric transducer for ultrasound generation and an embedded fiber optic sensor for detection, which provided verification of the results using the complete fiber optic system. The complete fiber optic system demonstrated adequate sensitivity throughout the entire cure to measure the ultrasonic signal velocity and ultrasonic attenuation.