| Summary: | The reliability of composite structures critically depends on effective damage repair. This study employs optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-destructive imaging technique capable of generating cross-sectional images of translucent materials, to investigate the repair of early-stage microdamage in thermoplastic composites. Using electrical resistance heating, the healing of a microscale void in a carbon fiber-reinforced ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) polymer sample was monitored through OCT-derived scattered light intensity and phase difference measurements. Firstly, the void healing process was observed using a self-developed OCT system. Repair parameters, including initiation and completion times, were then estimated from the scattered light intensity changes in the defective region. Additionally, phase-contrast imaging was utilized to analyze phase difference patterns, enabling the computation of displacement fields across the defective cross-section and providing quantitative insights into the healing dynamics. The findings demonstrate the efficacy of OCT in monitoring and characterizing the repair processes of composite materials, highlighting its potential as a valuable tool in structural health assessment.
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