Evaluating the moisture absorption percentage in the adhesive layers of carbon fiber reinforced plastic joints via electromagnetic induction testing and diffusion analysis

Abstract

In this study, we propose a method that combines moisture absorption analysis and electromagnetic induction testing (EIT) to detect weak bonds formed in the adhesive layers of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) joints due to moisture absorption. Although EIT is effective for assessing CFRP joint adhesive moisture absorption, early-stage detection of weak bonds is challenging. Our method addresses this by combining calculations of moisture absorption percentage via the diffusion equation and EIT-based measurements. First, we conducted diffusion analysis using the finite difference method (FDM). The moisture absorption percentage calculated via the FDM was validated by comparing it with the results of the moisture absorption tests of the CFRP adhesive joints, and good agreement was observed. Second, EIT was applied to the CFRP adhesive joints, and the experimental results indicated that the moisture absorption percentage of the CFRP joint can be qualitatively evaluated using EIT. Finally, the moisture absorption of the CFRP joint adhesive layer was quantitatively evaluated by combining the results of EIT on the CFRP joints with those of the numerical analysis. Therefore, the proposed method enables the previously difficult quantitative evaluation of the early-stage moisture absorption percentage of CFRP joint adhesive layers and is effective for the detection of weak bonds created by moisture absorption in CFRP joints.