Quantitative characterization of cracks using ultrasonic imaging Available to Purchase

An ultrasonic technique has been developed to characterize fatigue cracks in the internal layers of multi-layer aircraft structures. The technique is based on the B-scan image acquisition and processing to obtain quantitative information on crack characteristics. A portable ultrasonic flaw detector is used to acquire the data that are necessary to generate an image. Since most of the cracks are located underneath the sealant layers, a separate ultrasonic technique was developed to generate the image of sealant in between layers of aircraft structures. This technique can be used as a complimentary inspection procedure to verify the integrity of the sealant layers.