Method and Equipment for Infrared and Ultrasonic Thermographic Testing of Large-Sized Complex-Shaped Composite Products

Abstract The robotic equipment for and the technique of combined thermal nondestructive testing (NDT) of large-sized products by zones with subsequent data synthesis are described. The effectiveness of the combination of two methods, infrared and ultrasonic thermographic testing, is shown by the example of the developed complex-shaped reference sample with 18 simulators of production and operational defects. The developed algorithms for the synthesis of test results, including spatial “matching” of a set of thermograms and automated flaw detection and defect characterization with the use of neural networks have illustrated the effectiveness of the proposed approach for practical application.