PT Journal AU Deganova, L Dekys, V Sapieta, M Sapietova, A TI Ultrasonic-Based Active Thermography for Determining Depth Detection Limits in Onyx Composites SO Manufacturing Technology Journal PY 2026 BP 14 EP 25 VL 26 IS 1 DI 10.21062/mft.2026.003 DE Onyx composite; Ultrasonic thermography; Lock-in; Depth detection; MATLAB AB This paper examines the detection of internal defects in composite specimens composed of Onyx, a material featuring a nylon matrix reinforced with chopped carbon fibers. Artificial defects, in the form of flat-bottom holes of various geometries, were intentionally introduced during the additive manufac-turing process. The primary objective is to determine the depth detection capabilities of ultrasound by varying the excitation frequency and determining whether these defects remain identifiable at different subsurface levels. Ultrasonic lock-in thermography is utilized to excite specimens. As the frequency is modified, the depth of wave propagation also changes, a phenomenon well established in homogene-ous materials. However, the heterogeneous nature of Onyx introduces complexities into wave propa-gation. The recorded thermographic data are processed in MATLAB to calculate contrast ratio values, enabling a quantitative comparison of defect detectability for different defect geometries. ER