Computer integrated NDE

Early investigations of Sulzer-Innotec in 1990 showed that, compared to other NDT methods such as radiography and thermography, ultrasonic inspection is very effective for the detection of internal flaws in engineered materials such as fiber-reinforced composite materials. In the inspection of such parts by ultrasonic immersion scanning, preparation and set-up time can be a problem especially for complex parts. This presentation describes a cooperative project between Sulzer-Innotec and Tektrend to design and implement a PC-controlled and CAD-supported ultrasonic scanning and data acquisition system. The system also includes artificial intelligence for automated data interpretation and extensive imaging capabilities. The system is described and applications demonstrating the capabilities are presented