New Contactless Method for Non-Destructive Composites Monitoring

We report on in-situ studies of the transmission parameter during the polymerization of the polymer containing magnetic microwire inclusions obtained using free space microwave spectroscopy. A substantial change in the transmission parameter in the range of 4-7 GHz is observed during the matrix polymerization. The observed dependencies are discussed considering the heating and matrix shrinkage during the polymerization process of the thermoset matrix on magnetic properties of glass-coated microwires. The observed experimental data can be used in numerous applications as a new method of non-destructive and contactless composites monitoring using glass-coated amorphous microwire inclusions with magnetic properties sensitive to applied stress and temperature.