Recent Trends in Non-Destructive Testing Approaches for Composite Materials: A Review of Successful Implementations

Abstract

Non-destructive testing (NDT) methods are critical for evaluating the structural integrity of and detecting defects in composite materials across industries such as aerospace and renewable energy. This review examines the recent trends and successful implementations of NDT approaches for composite materials, focusing on articles published between 2015 and 2025. A systematic literature review identified 120 relevant articles, highlighting techniques such as ultrasonic testing (UT), acoustic emission testing (AET), thermography (TR), radiographic testing (RT), eddy current testing (ECT), infrared thermography (IRT), X-ray computed tomography (XCT), and digital radiography testing (DRT). These methods effectively detect defects such as debonding, delamination, and voids in fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. The selection of NDT approaches depends on the material properties, defect types, and testing conditions. Although each technique has advantages and limitations, combining multiple NDT methods enhances the quality assessment of composite materials. This review provides insights into the capabilities and limitations of various NDT techniques and suggests future research directions for combining NDT methods to improve quality control in composite material manufacturing. Future trends include adopting multimodal NDT systems, integrating digital twin and Industry 4.0 technologies, utilizing embedded and wireless structural health monitoring, and applying artificial intelligence for automated defect interpretation. These advancements are promising for transforming NDT into an intelligent, predictive, and integrated quality assurance system.

Keywords: X-ray computed tomography (XCT); composite materials; infrared thermography testing (IRT); multi-sensors; non-destructive testing (NDT); ultrasonic testing (UT).

Figure 1

Schematic of UT and PAUT operating principles.

Figure 2

Schematic ECT and PECT operating principles.

Figure 3

Signal parameters in acoustic emission testing.

Figure 4

Schematic illustration comparing TR and IRT.

Figure 5

Schematic of microwave testing using an antenna and using an open-ended rectangular waveguide.

Figure 6

Schematic of radiographic testing using film and using digital detector.

Figure 7

Schematic illustration of X-ray computed tomography (XCT).

Figure 8

Reported frequency of NDT methods applied to composite materials based on the review of 120 research articles [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,30,31,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,56,57,58,64,65,66,67,68,72,74,75,77,81,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,92,93,94,95,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,106,107,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,122,123,124,125,126,128,129,131,133,135,136,137,138,139,140,142,149,150,151,152,153,157,158,159,161,162,163,164,166,168,169,170,171,172].

Figure 9

Technology roadmap illustrating four major future trends.

Figure 10

Schematic of a multimodal NDT system integrating UT, PAUT, IRT, and MW methods.