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In capacitive imaging (Cl), the geometry of the sensor is a key factor in sensor design, which definitively influences the performance of the Cl. In order to optimise the Cl sensor for the detection of defects with different depths and varying liftoff, it is useful to employ new Cl sensors with different geometries and evaluate their performance in terms of detecting defects in both conducting and non-conducting material. In this paper, four Cl sensors with different geometries are designed and evaluated. Finite element method (FEM) models are employed to verify the feasibility of detecting defects by changing the electric potential field lines and of obtaining the measurement sensitivity distribution. Cl experiments are carried out to detect defects with all of the sensors. The results show that a Cl sensor with a rectangular electrode pair is better than a conventional triangular sensor in terms of signal strength, and a Cl sensor with a circular electrode pair is better than a conventional triangular sensor in terms of the dynamic change rate (DCR). It is alsofound that for defects on the surface of a conducting material, the optimal lift-off changes with different geometries, while for defects on the surface and within a non-conducting material, the optimal lift-off remains at 1 mm for all of the sensors discussed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The threshold for binarisation of an ultrasonic C-scan image has a significant effect on flaw sizing. The 6 dB drop method shows poor performance when extracting flaws from an ultrasonic image. A novel method is presented to improve the accuracy of flaw sizing, whereby the flaws are separated from the background using digital image processing techniques including the Otsu method, bilateral filtering and dilation. The optimised thresholds for each flaw are calculated using the enumeration method to binarise the original image and then the flaw size is predicted using the 6 dB drop method. The dynamic threshold model for flaw sizing is developed on the basis of the generalised regression neural network theory, where the flaw peak value, the depth of flaw echo and the pre-judgement size of the flaw are all taken into consideration. Finally, ultrasonic C-scan experiments are conducted on an AZ80 magnesium alloy shell with natural flaws. Compared with the traditional 6 dB drop method, the experimental results show that C-scan imaging using the dynamic threshold method can reduce the average relative error of flaw sizing from 40.6% to 7.4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on several non-destructive testing solutions including the Reddy 96 eddy current array instrument from Eddyfi, the MTN/5000 condition monitoring system from Monitran, and the SVM 3001 Stabinger Viscometer from Anton Paar GmbH.

This study proposes a micro-magnetic non-destructive testing (NDT) method in the geomagnetic field to detect delamination defects in carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP). The relative permeability of the CFRP is slightly greater than that of air, as determined by CFRP material magnetisation. Thus, CFRP is a weak paramagnetic substance. The mechanism of the micro-magnetic NDT method is analysed based on the CFRP delamination defect's magnetic anomaly characteristics. Furthermore, a defect determination criterion is used to investigate three artificial delamination defects preset in a specimen. The amplitudes of magnetic induction intensity changing between 25 and 50 nT are considered as a magnetic anomaly caused by the defects. Moreover, the areas are consistent with the preset position of the artificial defects. The signal differential treatment can assist the preliminary quantification. A new method is provided to quickly and effectively detect delamination defects in CFRP. In addition, new ideas for defect detection are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers brief information on several non-destructive testing equipment and supplies including the XPERT 80 digital cabinet X-ray system from Kubtec, the SB-100P Series UV-A lamp from Spectronics Corp., and the thermoIMAGER TIM 640 thermal imaging camera from Micro-Epsilon UK Ltd.

The article offers information on several products for Nondestructive testing including the Teletest Permamount wave monitoring tool from Plant Integrity, the 1400 PCB connectors from Lemo, and the Yxlon FF35 CT tomography for non-destructive testing and measurement of materials from Yxlon.

The article offers brief information on several products for non-destructive testing industry including X6000sc and X8000sc series thermal imaging cameras from FLIR Systems, MetraSCAN 3D R-Series automated inspection solution from Creaform, and tube inspection system from Unicorn Automation.

The article evaluates the EMAT Adaptor offered by Sonemat Ltd., the Checkmor 240 offered by the company Chemtall Aerospace Technologies and the Y.MTIS tyre inspection system offered by Yxlon International GmBH.

The article presents several abstract including Green non-destructive testing: the future of NDT techniques, The requirements for calibration or checking non-destructive testing instruments, and Thoughts on third-party NDT inspection in projects.

The article offers brief information on various equipment used in non-destructive testing and condition monitoring which include the DR3000 radiographic film digitisation technology from CIT UK, the LC15Dx laser scanner from Nikon Metrology Inc., and the X-MET7000 series hand-held analyser from Oxford Instruments PLC.

Crack detection in cast iron has always been an important and difficult problem in the field of non-destructive testing. The traditional ultrasonic testing technique is time-consuming and is far from perfect because of coarse grains. The acousto-ultrasonic (AU) method, which was proposed in the 1980s, propagates externally-generated kilohertz frequency vibrations. In the current study, receiver arrays were used to measure the amplitude attenuation caused by slots on grey cast iron plates and to investigate the feasibility of the AU technique for inspecting cracks in cast iron. Moreover, different types of sensors were tested to optimise the testing frequency. The results indicate that the slots interact with one another when the wave frequency is higher than 480 kHz. The amplitudes of the signals around the slots are dramatically reduced. However, the decay effect of the cracks is observed in the near, rather than the far, field. A comparison method based on normalised amplitude curves is proposed to identify slots with depths greater than 2 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on non-destructive testing (NDT) which include Speeded control of electrolytes, solutions, melts and ingredients of industrial sewage," by F. I. Kotik and S. G. Ibragimov, "Optimal choice of methods of waste incineration taking into account the factors of atmospheric pollution," by A. A. Shirin-zadeh and colleagues, and "The research for examining stone material quality with ultrasonic testing technology," by S. X. Tong and G. H. Wu.

The article offers brief information on several products for non-destructive testing and condition monitoring which includes Olympus Stream 1.6 microscopy imaging software from Olympus Europa Holding GmbH, Redel connector from Lemo UK Ltd., and the Flir E-Series compact camera from Flir Systems Inc.

TSC designs and builds electromagnetic sensor probes for the industrial NDT market. These probes are used for the detection and sizing of surface-breaking cracks in metals and for the determination of stresses in steel. The company expends a great deal of effort in research and development; this R&D typically consists of numerical simulations and the creation of prototype probes. This paper details the research and development of some of the more complex probes TSC has recently created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates several products related to non-destructive testing which includes the Odi modular encoder from Jireh Industries Ltd., the Digital Acoustic Video (DAV)-powered AcoustoCam ultrasonic imaging cameras from Imperium Inc., and the Universal Serial Bus (USB) eddy current instruments from Ether NDE.

The article evaluates several machines and equipment in nondestructive testing which include the trueDGS angle beam probes from GE Sensing & Inspection Technologie GmbHs, the Xenics Bobcat-1.7-320 NIR camera from Stemmer Imaging GmbH, and the Labino® torch lights from Advanced NDT Ltd.

The article offers information on several conferences and seminars related to non-destructive testing (NDT) which includes the "11th International Exhibition on Non-Destructive Testing Equipment and Devices" on September 7-9, 2010 in Volgograd, Russia, the 47th annual technical meeting of the Society of Engineering Science on October 4-6, 2010 at the Iowa State University in the U.S., and the 9th international conference on damage assessment of structures (DAMAS) on July 11-13, 2011 at St Anne's College, University of Oxford in Oxford, England.

The article presents abstracts on nondestructive testing (NDT) topics which include the tool for control and maintenance of steel bridges, the NDT technique based on computer network for the remote control and integration of various NDT equipment, and the use of NDT technique in engineering quality supervision of spherical tank.

A letter to the editor and a reply are presented which discusses the author's experiences with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) code cases by J R Lilley in the April 2010 issue.

The article evaluates several nondestructive testing (NDT) equipment including Cygnus 3 Datalogger multiple-echo thickness gauge from Cygnus Instruments Ltd., DeltaShear accelerometer from Brüel & Kjæ Sound & Vibration Measurement A/S, and mobile metal analyser from Spectro Analytical Instruments GmbH.

In the process of materials' development and optimisation, the determination and analysis of mechanical properties, in particular toughness, have a major importance. This work presents a non-contact and non-destructive strain analysis technique which allows the determination of strain fields and displacements on a surface of interest. In the present study, an optical strain measurement system called ARAMIS has been used. The aim of this work was to verify the capacity of this system in detecting variations of strain and displacements in the vicinity of a crack tip located in two different regions of a welded joint. The system was applied to monitor the surface of fracture toughness test specimens of welded joints. The results from a CMOD clip gauge and from the optical strain analysis system were analysed and compared. Laser-welded samples of API 5L X-65 steel produced using a 25 kW CO2 laser source were prepared and tested in accordance with BS 7448-1997: ‘Fracture Mechanics Toughness Test’. The displacement results generated by the optical strain measurement system agree with those obtained with the standard clip-gauge technique. The results show that this strain measurement technique is a powerful tool for the strain/stress measurements, capable of providing a non-contact full-field strain map of the analysed specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper industry is a highly automated industry that includes many different production steps, in which a variety of machine components are used. In a paper machine, where the pulp is being transformed into paper, rotating components such as bearing-mounted rollers play an important part in driving the wire with the pulp through the process. In this type of industry with a serial layout, the failure of a single roller or bearing could lead to the stoppage of several production steps, with costly consequences as a result. To ensure and optimise asset availability, a condition-based maintenance (CBM) strategy could be implemented. However, CBM is dependent on an appropriate condition monitoring (CM) technique to detect a physical phenomenon that defines the state of critical components or systems. For the development of CM techniques, it is therefore important to understand and model the physical behaviour of the system in question. In this paper, the behaviour of a roller in a paper machine is analysed using the finite element method (FEM). The physical model was compared with vibration measurements collected from an online monitoring system and an experimental modal analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates several non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment including the QuartZ phased array and conventional ultrasonic technology instrumentation from Zetec Inc., the phased array transducers from Sonaxis, and the FLIR RS8300 infrared camera systems from FLIR Systems.

The article features several products including the Couplant Delivery System (CDS) from Phoenix Inspection Systems, FLIR X6580sc ultra-fast frame rate camera from imaging components firm FLIR Systems, and the Series C industrial videoscope from optics manufacturer Olympus.

Optical techniques are based on the development of laser, imaging sensors and computer technologies with a view to providing full-field and non-contacting measurement of surface profiles and deformations. They are categorised in three groups: moiré, holography and speckle-based techniques. These optical techniques have been used in material characterisation, defects detection, strain measurement, design verification/optimisation, residual stress evaluation, vibration analysis and 3D shape measurement. In this paper, the principles of these techniques are overviewed first, their advantages and disadvantages highlighted. Compared to other non-destructive testing techniques, optical techniques reveal defects in an object by assessing the response of surface deformation to defects under stressing, which is closely correlated with the strength and integrity of the object. Not only the modes of defects could be determined, the strains and stresses field associated with these modes could be quantified as well. Therefore, optical techniques have attracted increasing interest from the NDT community in the past decade, and have been applied to a range of industrial sectors to meet the demanding nondestructive testing of various engineering components and structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital holographic interferometry is the state-of-the-art technique in holography having applications in the fields of non-destructive testing, flow analysis and vibration measurement covering a wide range from huge aerospace structures to micro objects such as MEMS[,,]. In holographic non-destructive testing (HNDT), transient thermal loading is an extensively used method of stressing the objects for defect detection[]. Test objects are stressed thermally using infrared lamps, flat heater or hot-water tanks depending on the object configuration and geometry, defect type and nature and the safety aspects. Holograms at different stress states of the object are recorded continuously, either during heating or during cooling after the removal of the heating element, to obtain interferograms. However, in order to capture and analyse the fast transient response of the structures upon thermal stressing, a system that records holograms and generates holographic interferograms in high speed is essential. Added to this, if the system can simultaneously generate shearograms, which provide a displacement derivative fringe pattern, this would increase its defect detection capability during NDT. In this paper the development of a digital hologram processing system which can record a digital hologram in high speed and generate holographic interferograms and shearograms simultaneously is reported. The design of the high-speed image processing system and selection of digital camera is also explained. The paper also gives details of the software developed and its features. The need for the high-speed system to record and generate interferograms during NDT of highly porous materials is also demonstrated in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates two industrial machineries including Plant Condition Monitor (PCM) from Artesis LLP and vibration monitoring and balancing equipments from Schaeffler Ltd.

The article offers brief information on products related to nondestructive testing including FLIR T1020 thermal camera from FLIR systems, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) based industrial X-ray system from Teledyne DALSA, and ECHO 9 ultrasonic thickness gauges from Danatronics.

The article offers information on products for nondestructive testing including ultrasonic array roller probe from Phoenix Inspection Systems, C12880MA ultra-compact spectrometer from Hamamatsu Photonics KK, and FLIR A6750sc Structured Light Sensor thermal imaging camera from FLIR Systems Inc.

The article evaluates several non-destructive testing and condition monitoring products including the CSI 300 Machinery Health Monitor, a compact protection system from Emerson Process Management Ltd., the InspectionWorks Connect remote collaboration software from GE Measurement & Control, and the UltraMax thermal imaging technology from FLIR Systems In.

The article evaluates several products for nondestructive testing, including an Adamant IR camera from Cedip Infrared Systems, the Hawkeye Pro Precision range of rigid borescopes from Moritex Corp. and the Spectroline BIB-150P UV lamp from Spectronics Corp.

The article evaluates various testing products including Olympus BondMaster 1000e+ composite inspection instrument by Olympus NDT Inc., Everest XLG3 VideoProbe video borescope by GE Inspection Technologies LP and L10195 series quantum cascade lasers by Hamamatsu Photonics.

This paper explores, for various sizes of array and element pitches, the extent to which a beam can be focused, including the effect of failed elements. Experimental data collected with Peak NDT's own array controller has been successfully compared with a computer simulation. This suggests that the computer model can be a useful tool, not only for understanding the ability of a particular array configuration to focus and steer, but also in the development of ultrasonic techniques using phased arrays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a list of articles related to non-destructive testing published in several journals. They include "The Requirements of QC Manual and LP Examination in Manufacturing of ASME VIII-Div 1 Pressure Vessels," by M. Montazer, "How Many Specimens Is Enough?," by C. Annis, "Real Features of Risk Management Practices," by S. Honiden, "Science of Earthquake Prediction," by T. Kato, and "Steel: Cord Conveyor Belt NDT," by V. Sukhorukov.

Non-destructive tests have been increasingly used as an inspection method to assure the quality and reliability of products and equipment. Among non–destructive testing techniques, ultrasound is one of the most applied in industry, for detecting and sizing up discontinuities in materials, evaluating their properties, measuring thickness, etc. Some difficulties in metallic material inspections by other methods, such as radiography, to detect cracks that are parallel to the X-ray beam, have been eliminated by using the TOFD technique, which sends an ultrasound beam to the interior of the material being inspected but at an angle in relation to its surface. Although TOFD has high speed inspection, high sizing reliability and low rate of incorrect results, the classification of defects through ultrasound signals generated by the TOFD technique is still frequently questioned, because it depends heavily on the knowledge and experience of the operator. The use of computational tools for the pattern recognition, such as the artificial neural networks, has offered a new way to classify the defects detected using this technique. This study shows how to obtain the best hierarchical and non-hierarchical linear discriminators, in order to distinguish the main defects in welded joints detected by the TOFD technique, using the technique of neural networks for its implementation. The results are very promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents several reference sources compiled in the NDT Info database. "Nondestructive Testing of Pavement Structures," by N. Bandara and R. C. Briggs; "General Review of the Methods of Evaluation of Physico-Mechanical Characteristics of Metals," by O. M. Karpash; "General Review of the Methods of Evaluation of Physico-Mechanical Characteristics of Metal," by E. A. Igumentasev.

Features several non-destructive testing products in Great Britain Distinct features of the new 360 kV 5 mA directional X-ray system, SITE-X 360, from Euroteck System UK Ltd.; System requirements of the new high-speed focus and stage control system, SynchroScan, from Syncroscopy company; Description of the L-PAD solid-state detector from Lambda Advanced Technology company.

A design of an ultrasonic apparatus for testing material samples is presented. It is based on a pulse-echo technique and involves wave reflection and refraction at a liquid-solid interface. The main part of the apparatus is a transducer-cell, which holds the sample under test (SUT). The novelty of the design resides in the use of prism-shaped specimens and the special configuration of the transducer cell, that allows for the simple generation of both longitudinal and shear waves within the material using just one transducer. Wave velocities are derived from a special formula, which represents a significant improvement over an earlier version of the apparatus designed by the author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates several products for non-destructive testing (NDT) including the QUADRAN 365 S-Series, multi-LED lamps, from Spectroline, the DSX digital microscopes from Olympus, and the DolphiCam Research, a software package for NDT users, from DolphiTech.

The article evaluates several non-destructive testing products including the Dual Linear Array probe from Olympus, the ECHO 9 series of ultrasonic thickness gauges from Danatronics, and the line of magnetic flux leakage (MFL) tubing probes from Eddyfi.

The article evaluates nondestructive testing devices by infrastructure equipment manufacturing companies including Electrochemical Fatigue Sensor (EFS) by Metal Fatigue Solutions, Quadran 365 Series light emitting diode (LED) lamps by Spectronics Corp., Sectional Focusing Inspection (SFI) device by Guided Wave Analysis.

The article previews nondestructive testing equipment and supplies, including Mentor EM handheld electronic inspection instrument from GE Measurement & Control, odorless manual processing chemical kits from Carestream and Ectane surface array tube inspection system from Ashtead Technology.

The article offers brief information related to non-destructive testing products including thermoIMAGER TIM, thermal imager from the company Micro-Epsilon, the C-Clamp encoder from Phoenix ISL and the IF-Profiler, a portable 3D measurement system from Alicona.

The article evaluates several nondestructive testing products including ExTOPE Connect data management and storage service from Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science Corp., smart UVee lamp from Chemetall Ltd., and Plato-3 System control and monitoring system from Johnson & Allen.

The article offers information on the 5th International Exhibition on Non-Destructive Testing and Technical Diagnostics, NDT Kazakhstan 2019, organised by Kazakhstan Association of NDT and Technical Diagnostics, to be held on April 25-26 at the Korme Exhibition Center in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The article offers information on nondestructive testing equipment and supplies, including the FirstMap corrosion mapping system from Imperium, the Equipment Monitoring System non-contact temperature measurement system from Raytek, and the CR Test Phantom radiographic system qualification unit from Computerised Information Technology Ltd.

The article offers brief information on several non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment which includes the FLIR thermal machine from FLIR Systems Inc., InfiniteFocus SL optical non-contact measurement system from Alicona UK, and Dolphin G3 from AcousticEye Ltd.

The article offers brief information on several products for non-destructive testing which include the iFlaw touch-screen digital ultrasonic flaw detector from Danatronics Corp., Wireless Radiation Alarm System from NDT MainCal, and the 8688A series triaxial accelerometer from Kistler.

The article offers brief information on several electronic and testing devices including the RFI-D magnetic residual field indicator from NDT Consultants Ltd., the DP26 camera from Olympus Corp., and the Veo & Corrosion Wheelprobe (CWP) scanning system from Sonatest Ltd.

The article offers brief information on several nondestructive testing products including GS2020 'EMAT Adaptor' from Sonemat, the Raptor portable ultrasonic imaging flaw detector from NDT Systems Inc., and new SU9000 field emission (FE) scanning electron microscope (SEM) from Hitachi High-Technologies Corp.