Ultrasonic system and method for detecting and characterizing contact delaminations

A system for non-destructive testing of composite materials, comprising:

• at least one ultrasonic transducer in communication with a processor;
• wherein the at least one ultrasonic transducer is operable to emit ultrasonic waves into and receive ultrasonic waves from a test object including at least one delamination to produce scan data;
• wherein the scan data includes a plurality of A-scans gathered at different positions along a surface of the test object;
• wherein at least one of the plurality of A-scans comprises an entire waveform of at least one ultrasonic wave reflected at a particular position along the surface of the test object;
• wherein the processor generates at least one C-scan based on the plurality of A-scans;
• wherein the processor automatically analyzes the at least one C-scan and designates and displays at least one delamination area;
• wherein the at least one delamination area includes areas of the at least one C-scan having amplitude values above a threshold number of standard deviations greater or less than a known baseline amplitude value or frequency shifts above a threshold number of standard deviations greater or less than a known baseline frequency shift for the at least one C-scan;
• and
• wherein the processor automatically determines a size of the at least one delamination area based on a number of pixels in the at least one C-scan that are included in the at least one delamination area and a size represented by each pixel.