Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of aerospace composites: Methods for testing adhesively bonded composites

This chapter aims to establish the state-of-the-art with regard to non-destructive testing(NDT) techniques of adhesively bonded composite materials, with a special focus on the aerospace industry, and composite substrates. Typical material defects, as well as quality management through NDT methods throughout the product lifecycle, is introduced. A complete overview of existing NDT techniques is given, followed by a description of limitations in terms of bond Performance assessment. Recent concepts and nascent developments ('Extended NDT') for the future are explored.