Estimation of Size and Depth of Debonds in Laminates From Holographic Interferometry

Double-exposure holography has been shown to be a useful nondestructive testing technique for the detection of debonds in laminates when subjected to vacuum stressing. The size of a debond is estimated from the boundary containing anomalous fringes and subsequently, its depth is estimated from these fringes using a thin-plate model. Rigid-body motion is frequently present during testing, causing ambiguity in the identification of the shape of the debond and hence difficulty in the estimation of its size and depth. In this paper, a simple method is presented which isolates the effects of rigid-body motion so that accurate assessment of the detected debonds can be achieved. Also, the use of a circle to outline the ambiguous boundary is found suitable for square debonds.