As operators are putting greater demands on their aircraft, non-destructive testing (NDT) is playing a more important role in every phase of airframe and engine maintenance. And as you would expect, NDT equipment manufacturers are introducing some new tools and technologies to help technicians become more accurate and effective with their inspections.
It can be a tough task to keep up with it all. So to help you stay on the leading-edge of some of the advancements available in NDT equipment, products, and capabilities, Aviation Maintenance has put together this guide to some of the latest offerings in the five major NDT categories; magnetic particle, eddy current, fluorescent penetrant, X-ray, and ultrasonic.
Magnetic Particle Inspection
Magnaflux's D-Series 3-Phase MPI Units
Magnaflux has long set the standard for magnetic particle inspection (MPI) equipment and technology, and the Magnaflux D-Series are the most powerful standard wet-bench units the company currently produces. The 3-Phase technology means operators benefit from more efficient use of the power used for each test, and because there is very little ripple effect in the magnetizing current, they are seeing much improved inspection results. "Operators can do more with less input power," said Paul Dunnwald, equipment product manager for Magnaflux. "An 80-amp input at 460 volts can produce 6,000 amps of output for an inspection."
Another important feature of the D-2060 and D-2100 units is that Magnaflux has made separate current controls for the contacts and the coil a standard feature. "Now technicians can set each circuit's current separately," he added. "This lets them do more accurate and repeatable inspections because they are using the correct current levels every time. Once the currents are set, the tech just flips a switch and the unit does the test. It's a significant quality enhancement."
The units also have Magnaflux's unique "Quick Break" function, which insures that the magnetic field in the coil collapses correctly during the test. "The benefit of this capability is that the technician will see finer indications and sharper image definition all the way to the end of the part being tested," he said. "Operators find that they get better, more consistent results."
The D-2060/D-2100 series also feature an improved fluid pumping system. This not only makes it easier to access the bath for routine maintenance and fluid changes, it also permits the changing of circulation parts without requiring that the bath fluids be drained.
Dunnwald said that among aviation customers, the most popular of the D-Series unit's optional features is the Reversing DC Demagnetization capability. "This auto-sequencing system replaces a 32-step mechanical procedure with a 72-step solid-state process that automatically demagnetizes the part after inspection," he explained. "The solid-state unit has no moving parts--no switches to wear out and replace--and that means less maintenance, less cost, and more uptime."
Eddy Current Inspection
Staveley NDT's Nortec 2000D Eddy Current Flaw Detector
The Nortec 2000D is the latest in Staveley's popular line of high-resolution, portable eddy current flaw detectors. Highlighting its many operational features and conveniences is the unit's dual-frequency capability. "This is one of the first units that meets Boeing's latest requirements for dual-frequency inspections of Alodyne and Anodized fasteners on the inboard skin of the lap splices," explained Chuck Edie, product technical support specialist for Staveley NDT. "The dual-frequency processor also enables the 2000D to perform corrosion inspections on the second layer of an aircraft's skin."
The 2000D also features Staveley's Smart Color display, which matches the screen trace to the text color on the soft keys on the unit's display so a technician can easily match functions. To further aid in ease-of-use, it also has Staveley's unique PowerLink technology. "PowerLink is an embedded chip technology that can be programmed with the user's particular test setup requirements," he added. "It can have the angle, gain, frequency, and other parameters preprogrammed in, so all the user has to do is make a single selection and the rest is automatic." By reducing both setup time and possible operator errors, PowerLink is especially useful when the operator is not an experienced NDT operator.
And like the rest of Staveley's popular Nortec 1000/2000S series instruments, the 2000D features customer interchangeable displays, adjustable gain control, selectable probe drives, VGA output for easy connection to a large monitor or a head-up display, SmartKnob control, high- and low-pass filters, and variable screen persist-of-trace erase.
Fluorescent Penetrant Inspection
Magnaflux Introduces New Zyglo Environmentally-Friendly Post-Emulsifiable Fluorescent Penetrants
Magnaflux's newest offerings in its Zyglo fluorescent penetrant line are the Post-Emulsifiable (PE) products. These new "globally environmentally friendly" products contain no nonyl-phenols (NP), a marine pollutant that has been banned in many European countries. The new products, ZL-2E, ZL-27B, and ZL-37A, will not only be more environmentally acceptable, they will also provide a brighter fluorescent indication, which will make inspections faster and more accurate.
"Current customers will also find that the new series of products will also be miscible with their current Zyglo counterpart products (ZL-2C, ZL-27A, and ZL-37)," explained Kevin Walker, materials product manager for Magnaflux. "So our aviation and aerospace customers who have large tanks will be able to mix this new product right in."
Walker also said that the new PE products will be included in the Zyglo inspection kits. "The kits come with everything an aircraft technician will need to do liquid penetrant inspections," he added. "Along with the new ZL-27B PE fluorescent penetrant and all the other items needed to do an inspection, the kit includes our new fan-cooled black light. So even maintenance shops that don't routinely do penetrant inspections can now have the capability."
Radiographic (X-ray) Inspection
Yxlon International's New Digital Image Enhancement and Storage System
It looks like X-ray film in aviation is soon going the way of the 8-track tape. "Digital imaging has a lot of benefits for the aviation industry," explained Jason Robbins, director of operations for Yxlon International. "Overall it's faster and cheaper than film because there's no processing or chemical costs involved. You take a digital image and look at it instantly. And with image-enhancement technology, you use appropriate filters to help the operator interpret the image more accurately."
Yxlon's Image 3500 Image Enhancement and Storage System is a perfect example. It provides a high dynamic contrast range, making it the ideal replacement for any application where film was previously used. And because it was created to work with modern digital detectors, this software system can be used to convert most popular film radiographic detectors to digital systems. "We just replace the film-handling system with a digital detector and a workstation," he added. "We work with each customer to create a system that best fits their inspection needs."
As Robbins explained it, ease of operation is another highlight of the Image 3500. "It provides single-button operation," he said. "We use macros in our software so the operator can apply various filters with a single keystroke. They can do precisely repeatable image enhancements time after time. That greatly enhances the reliability of every inspection. And unlike film, if the inspector makes a mistake, you know it right away."
To further help the operator improve the accuracy of each inspection, the Image 3500 features noise reduction and 16-bit filter technology with 15 pre-defined filters. Also, during an inspection, a reference image can be displayed in a separate window for instant comparison. The operator can also simultaneously apply several of the functions to both the actual image and the reference image, making defects much more easily detectable.
Robbins said that Yxlon has also introduced the next step in digital radiography technology in an effort to further reduce the chance that an operator may miss a structural defect. The Image 4500 Image Enhancement and Analysis System with Flaw Detection takes all the features and capabilities found in the Image 3500 and adds Supervised Automatic Detection Recognition capabilities.
"This tool applies an additional filter that automatically defines and highlights a defect area," he said. "The technician can quickly toggle between the filtered and raw unfiltered image to help make their determination. Aviation is looking for much smaller defects, and this technology can make them easier to find."
Ultrasonic Inspection
New portable Ultrasonic Flaw Detector from GE Inspection Technologies
GE's new USM 32 is a compact and easy-to-use ultrasonice flaw detector. According to GE, simplicity of operation is the key feature of the new USM 32. The operating menu is quickly selected by using five menu keys, and functions such as material velocity and range are selected via four dedicated keys for selecting dB-step, freeze, zoom, and copy. The keys do all the function selection; there are no hidden menus or second function keys on the USM 32. Additionally, two "spin-to-set" rotary knobs precisely set all instrument and inspection parameters. The operator may also disable the rotary knobs to eliminate the chance of accidental changes to the settings.
The USM 32 also features an ergonomically designed, high-contrast, multi-color LCD screen. The operator can select the color scheme that provides the highest readability in all ambient lighting conditions. The screen also provides an A-scan resolution of 320 by 220 pixels.
To increase productivity and flexibility, the USM 32 also has two independent color-coded gates, with a threshold of 10 to 90 percent of screen height, which allows two inspection events to be monitored simultaneously. Their alarm logic can be changed from coincidence to anti-coincidence. The USM 32 Basic has a max range of 55.9 inches (1,420 millimeters) and the USM 32L has a max range of 393.7 inches (9,999 millimeters) . For global versatility, the USM 32's displays can be shown in any of 19 different languages.
VENDOR LISTING
Magnaflux
Phone: 847-657-5300
Web: www.magnaflux.com
Staveley NDT
Phone: 509-736-2751
Web: www.staveleyndt.com
Yxlon International
Phone: 330-798-4800
Web: www.yxlon.com
GE Inspection Technologies
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