Carbon (CFRP) behaves acoustically very differently from steel or aluminium. Ultrasonic inspection on CFRP is possible but requires specific methods, suitable transducers and well-founded interpretation — the focus is not wall thickness itself but delaminations, voids and bond-line defects.
On yachts we use ultrasonic on CFRP mainly to detect delaminations between plies, voids, bond defects on glue lines and impact damage that looks unremarkable but affects strength. Typical fields: sandwich CFRP hulls and decks, carbon rigs (masts, booms, spinnaker poles), carbon rudders, individual highly loaded structures.
Unlike metallic thickness measurement, a single "residual thickness" rarely makes sense on CFRP. Validity depends strongly on lay-up (monolithic vs. sandwich, core, ply count), bond lines and access. In some constructions complementary methods — thermography, tap-test, endoscopy, in rare cases core samples — are more informative than ultrasonic alone.
We communicate these limits openly before commissioning. A blanket "carbon ultrasonic" without a target is rejected on purpose.
We define a clear inspection target with you (impact location after collision, mast transition, suspected voids in a deck section), choose suitable transducers and frequencies, document findings with photos and sketches/plans and classify the results. If needed we coordinate repair planning with yard or rigger.
For steel hulls see ultrasonic steel hull measurement, for aluminium see ultrasonic aluminium hull measurement. On rigs the inspection combines well with a rig check.
Describe vessel/part, lay-up and reason — we check whether ultrasonic is the right tool here and which alternatives apply.
