Nondestructive identification of engineering properties of metal fibre composites

Macroscopic homogeneity of metal fibre composites, namely those used for building structures, characterized by constant volume fraction of randomly oriented fibre particles, as well as their isotropy, or, alternatively, prescribed orientation of fibres, determines their mechanical, thermal, etc. properties, consequently their long-time behaviour, reliability and range of user applications. Destructive tests are available under laboratory conditions, but frequently impossible in situ, thus the development of reliable nondestructive approaches is required. This paper presents the physical and mathematical background of two classes of such tests, based i) on the planar radiographic images, analyzed with help of the fast Fourier transform, ii) on the magnetic properties of materials, using the Hall effect and properties of solutions of the Laplace equation. Practical results with fibre concrete samples from Brno University of Technology demonstrate the advantages and drawbacks of both approaches and sketch th...