SONOTEC presents high-end ultrasonic flaw detection systems for the most complex inspection requirements in aerospace industry
Aerospace experts from around the world met from 24 to 26 October 2018 in Dresden at the 10th International Symposium on NDT in Aerospace. Also on board ultrasonic specialist SONOTEC demonstrating high-performance air-coupled ultrasonic flaw detection technologies for the reliable non-destructive testing of composite parts.
Lightweight and composite materials are commonly used in the aeronautical engineering. Although its huge advantages for aircraft construction, detecting flaws and delamination of composite materials is far more demanding and requires most advanced qualified testing technologies and methods which meet the special measures and standards of the aerospace industry in terms of precision, reliability and material quality.
In a specifically prepared case study SONOTEC application engineer Tobias Gautzsch exemplarily illustrates NDT experts the identification, measurement and evaluation of delamination in multi-layered aluminium bonds with air-coupled ultrasonic testing (ACUT). This comparatively new ultrasonic testing method and its advantages were then demonstrated live to the specialist audience presenting the multi-channel air-coupled ultrasonic inspection system SONOAIR.
The world’s first phased-array air-coupled ultrasound inspection system SONOAIR allows fully contact-free and highly automated material testing procedures with maximum resolution, conciseness and performance impressing with high operating comfort, simple menu guidance and quick setup. Ultrasonic sensors, scan area and settings can be adjusted easily to inspection tasks and material.
The 3-day conference program out of short presentations, plenary talks, workshops and technical sessions includes major topics such as the physics of NDT, sensors and material interaction, additive manufacturing, design of complete inspection systems with a focus on robotics, data evaluation in the context of ‘big data’ and prognostics and health management, rounded off by a festive banguet and a guided tour through the historic centre of Dresden.
To communicate latest R&D achievements to industrial applicants on the one hand and to discuss advanced and improved methods both with scientists as well as industrial researchers and applicants on the other, the Symposium for NDT in Aerospace has been established in 2008 and organised on an annual basis since 2010. To run this event in Dresden (following Hamburg, Montreal, Singapur, Madrid, Bengaluru, …) is long overdue. The Free State of Saxony has established itself as an important location for the aviation industry. Around 160 companies and research facilities employ more than 7,000 people and generate an annual turnover of around 1.4 billion euros.