Destructive and non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques are discussed for characterisation of impact damage in carbon-fibre-reinforced composites (CFRPs). Special focus is placed on quantitative analysis of delaminations present at individual laminar interfaces of the composite by the use of scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM). Three distinct ultrasonic techniques in the pulse-echo mode, namely the conventional B-scan analysis, ply-by-ply C-scanning, and time-of-flight (TOF) analysis, have been used successfully to determine the depth and the lateral extent of delamination at individual layers. The SAM results correlate well with observations from cross-section fractography. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.