Papers by Author: Sun Kyu Kim

Abstract: A nondestructive technique would be very beneficial, which could be used to test the CF/Epoxy composite laminates. A new method for nondestructively determining the ply layup in a composite laminate is presented. A one-sided pitch-catch setup was used in the detection and evaluation of flaws and material anomalies in the composite laminates. Two Rayleigh wave transducers were joined head-to-head and used in the pitch-catch mode on the surface of the composites. The pitch-catch signal was found to be more sensitive than normal incidence backwall echo of longitudinal wave to subtle flaw conditions in the composite. Also the other method employs a normal-incidence longitudinal ultrasound to perform C-scan of ply interfaces of the laminate, and extracts fiber orientation information from the ultrasonic reflection in the laminate. Using two-dimensional spatial Fourier transform, interface C-scan images were transformed into quantitatively angular distribution plots to show the fiber orientation information therein and to determine the orientation of the ply. Therefore, it is found that the efficiency of developed system shows between the one-sided pitch-catch testing and C-scan images in characterizing ply-layup orientation of the laminates.

Abstract: Air-coupled ultrasound is a non-contact technique and has obvious advantages over water-coupled experimentation. Especially, wood materials are very sensitive to water and inspection without any coupling medium of a liquid is really needed to wood materials due to the permeation of coupling medium such as water. In this work, it is desirable to perform contact-less nondestructive evaluation to assess wood material homogeneity. A wood material was nondestructively characterized with non-contact and contact modes to measure ultrasonic velocity using automated data acquisition software. We have utilized a proposed peak-delay measurement method. Also through transmission mode was performed because of the main limitation for aircoupled transducers, which is the acoustic impedance mismatch between most materials and air. The variation of ultrasonic velocity was found to be consistent to some degree with those in infiltrated area for air-coupled and conventional scan images. Through-transmission scans for aircoupled and conventional UT were used based on both amplitude and time-of-flight images. Finally, results using a peak-delay measurement method well somewhat corresponded to ultrasonic velocities of the pulse overlap method.

Abstract: It is very important to detect fiber orientation error in orthotropic composite laminates because the layup of a CFRP (carbon-fiber reinforced plastics) composite laminates affects the properties of the laminate, including stiffness, strength and thermal behavior. In this study, an investigation of shear wave ultrasonic technique was carried out in order to detect stacking orientation error for the orthotropic composite laminates. During testing, the most significant problem is that the couplant conditions do not remain the same because of changing the viscosity of the couplant. Therefore, the design and use of a shear wave transducers would greatly aid in alleviating the couplant problem. A pyramid with an isosceles triangle with two 45o was made of aluminum to generate shear waves using two longitudinal transducers based on ultrasonicpolarized mechanism. Also, the signal splitter was connected to the pulser jack on the pulser/receiver and to the longitudinal transducers which were mounted with mineral oil. The shear transducer was mounted on the bottom as a receiver with burnt honey. It is found that the shear wave was generated at a maximum and a minimum based on the ultrasonic-polarized mechanism. Finally, test results with model data were compared for a fiber orientation of the laminates.

Abstract: Carbon/phenolic composite (CPC) materials are unique which consist of carbon fibers embedded in a carbon matrix. The CPCs are originally developed for aerospace applications and its low density, high thermal conductivity and excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperatures make it an ideal material for aircraft brake disks. The properties of the CPC are dependent on the manufacturing methods used for production and fiber arrangement. It is desirable to perform nondestructive evaluation to assess material properties and part homogeneity in order to ensure product quality and structural integrity of CPC brake disks. In this work, a CPC material was nondestructively characterized and a technique was developed to measure ultrasonic velocity in C/P composites using automated data acquisition software. Also a motorized system was adopted to measure ultrasonic velocity on the point of CPC materials under the same coupling conditions. Manual results were compared with those obtained by the motorized system with using drycoupling ultrasonics and through transmission method in immersion. A peak-delay measurement method well corresponded to ultrasonic velocities of the pulse overlap method and throughtransmission mode and C-scan image signal based on peak-to-peak amplitude.

Abstract: A nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technique would be very beneficial to assess resininfiltrated absorption effect of wood when wood was resin-treated. In this work, a wood material was nondestructively characterized and a technique was developed to measure ultrasonic velocity in wood using automated data acquisition software. We have proposed a peak-delay measurement method based on the pulse overlap measurement method. Also through transmission mode was performed to compare ultrasonic velocity with the above peak-delay measurement method in an immersion tank. The variation of ultrasonic velocity was measured and found to be somewhat consistent with those in infiltrated area in the course of nature absorption. For mapping out the material property inhomogeneity, through-transmission scans were used based on both amplitude and time-of-flight of the ultrasonic pulse. A peak-delay measurement method well somewhat corresponded to ultrasonic velocities of the pulse overlap method and through-transmission mode and C-scan image signal based on peak-to-peak amplitude.

Abstract: Because the layup of composite laminates influences there properties, the strength of composites depends on layup sequence of CFRP laminates. It is very important to detect ply error before the laminate is cured for both manual procedure and fiber placement procedure. An ultrasonic technique would be very beneficial, which could be used to test the part after and before curing laminates and requires less time than the optical test. Scanners were set out for different measurement modalities for acquiring ultrasonic signals as a function of in-plane azimuthal angle. The first motorized scanner was utilized for making transmission measurements using a pair of normal-incidence shear wave transducers. A scanner was built for the acousto-ultrasonic configuration using contact transducers. And a ply-by-ply vector decomposition model has been utilized for evaluating layup errors in composite laminates fabricated from unidirectional plies. We have compared the test results with model data. It is found that high probability shows between experimentations and the decomposition model in characterizing cured and uncured laminates with defect angles.

Abstract: In this work, a wood material was nondestructively characterized and a technique was developed to measure ultrasonic velocity in wood using automated data acquisition software. It is desirable to perform nondestructive evaluation (NDE) to assess material properties and absorption of wood because wood is a natural composite and often inhomogeneity. Several ultrasonic techniques were applied to wood for the evaluation of variations material properties. The variation of ultrasonic velocity was measured and found to be somewhat consistent with those in infiltrated area in the course of nature absorption. Low frequency (1MHz) through-transmission scans based on both amplitude and time-of-flight of the ultrasonic pulse were used for mapping out the material property inhomogeneity. These results were compared with those obtained by dry-coupling ultrasonics. A good correlation was found between ultrasonic velocity (a pulse overlap and peak-delay measurement method) and C-scan image signal based on peak-to-peak amplitude.

Abstract: The mechanical and electrical properties of the Sn-3.5Ag solder/Cu BGA packages were investigated as a function of number of reflows. A continuous scallop-shaped Cu6Sn5 intermetallic compound (IMC) layer was formed at the solder/Cu interface upon 1 reflow process. After 3 reflows, very thin layer of Cu3Sn IMC was observed at the Cu6Sn5/Cu interface. As the number of reflows increased, the thickness of these IMCs increased with a cube root of reflow time. Shear force slightly increased up to 4 reflows and then gradually decreased with increasing the number of reflows. The maximum shear force was 11.7N when the thickness of the IMC layers was 3.7㎛. The fracture surfaces of all the specimens showed ductile failure characteristics up to 4 reflows, and then the fraction of the brittle IMC fracture increased with the number of reflows. The electrical resistance of the BGA packages increased with the number of reflows.