Adaptive Laser Induced Phased Arrays (ALIPA)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Strathclyde
Department Name: Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Abstract
Many current challenges in Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) stem from the increased use of advanced materials and manufacturing processes that push the limits of materials' performance. NDE techniques are required that can cope with extreme environments (high temperature / radioactive environments), restricted access (inside engines or though access ports), and complex geometries. To address these challenges, this project will develop a new capability for real-time, remote ultrasonic imaging that can be used for NDE. This engineering challenge will be achieved by introducing a conceptual change to phased array ultrasonics, beyond the limits of geometrical, ultrasonic frequency and mode array characteristics, by adapting the array to the demands of the inspected structure, on-the-fly, and thus transforming the field. The long-term vision behind this project goes beyond inspection, to develop a method for monitoring and control of in-process parameters, in places of extreme environments such as fusion reactors or turbine engines. The industrial importance of the project is demonstrated by the significant cash and in-kind contributions of the project partners.
Organisations
- University of Strathclyde (Lead Research Organisation)
- European Union (Collaboration)
- WAAM3D LIMITED (Collaboration)
- SELLAFIELD LTD (Collaboration)
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (Collaboration)
- BAE Systems (United Kingdom) (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- CCFE/UKAEA (Project Partner)
- Sellafield (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Hitachi (Japan) (Project Partner)
Publications

Cantero-Chinchilla S
(2024)
Optimising laser-induced phased-arrays for defect detection in continuous inspections
in NDT & E International



Lukacs P
(2024)
Online evolution of a phased array for ultrasonic imaging by a novel adaptive data acquisition method.
in Scientific reports

Lukacs P.
(2021)
REMOTE, VOLUMETRIC ULTRASONIC IMAGING OF DEFECTS USING TWO-DIMENSIONAL LASER INDUCED PHASED ARRAYS
in Proceedings of 2021 48th Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, QNDE 2021

Lukacs P.
(2021)
ADAPTIVE DATA ACQUISITION FOR FAST ULTRASONIC IMAGING USING LASER INDUCED PHASED ARRAYS
in Proceedings of 2021 48th Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, QNDE 2021


Tu X
(2024)
A framework for computing directivities for ultrasonic sources in generally anisotropic, multi-layered media
in Wave Motion
Description | EPSRC Doctoral Prize |
Amount | £36,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/T517938/1 |
Organisation | University of Strathclyde |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2023 |
End | 01/2024 |
Description | Royce Industrial Collaboration Programme |
Amount | £123,308 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ICP315 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2023 |
End | 03/2024 |
Description | UKAN+ Funding Call 3 - Knowledge Transfer |
Amount | £29,878 (GBP) |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2024 |
End | 08/2024 |
Title | Data for "Online evolution of a phased array by means of an adaptive data acquisition method" |
Description | Supporting dataset for the publication: "Online evolution of a phased array by means of an adaptive data acquisition method". The file contains all the signals used to produce the images in the paper, using information mentioned in the paper, e.g. pitch and filter centre frequency. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | No impacts to report yet. |
URL | https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/datasets/0950371c-0dc5-4eea-a7c9-007c135290a5 |
Title | Data for: "Near-surface defect imaging in additively manufactured components by SAW suppression in laser induced phased array acquired data" |
Description | Dataset for the publication: 'Near-surface defect imaging in additively manufactured components by SAW suppression in laser induced phased array acquired data'. The file contains all the signals and the signal and image processing parameters used to produce the images in the paper. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The database is used by the group in Strathclyde and the collaborating group in Bristol through the "Adaptive Laser Induced Phased Arrays" project. |
URL | https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/datasets/0cfd48c9-733d-4636-8f0a-b28bf48a34bd |
Description | BAE Systems: Project partner to the Adaptive LIPA project |
Organisation | BAE Systems |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Expertise, access to data and experimental results. Site visits, demonstrations and trials of samples provided by the Project Partner. |
Collaborator Contribution | Provision of samples, expertise and participation in meetings. |
Impact | No outputs yet |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Independent advisor for USES of novel Ultrasonic and Seismic Embedded Sensors for the non-destructive evaluation and structural health monitoring of critical infrastructure and human-built objects (HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) ) |
Organisation | European Union |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | I am a member of the Independent advisory board for USES of novel Ultrasonic and Seismic Embedded Sensors for the non-destructive evaluation and structural health monitoring of critical infrastructure and human-built objects (HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) ), which is a European Union programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training. |
Collaborator Contribution | All travel expenses are paid for meetings. Opportunity for networking with the international ultrasonics community. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary bringing together physicists, mathematicians, engineers and geo-scientists. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | PhD co-supervision with UKAEA |
Organisation | UK Atomic Energy Authority |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Expertise and experimental results. |
Collaborator Contribution | Time with experienced staff, specialised and characterised samples. |
Impact | One accepted conference paper at the IEEE Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE) 2023, to be presented in July 2023 One accepted conference paper at NDE in Nuclear 2023, to be presented in June 2023 |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Sellafield Ltd: Project partner to the Adaptive LIPA project |
Organisation | Sellafield Ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Access to data and trials with project partner's own samples. Industrial visits and demonstrations.Expertise. |
Collaborator Contribution | Cash contributions, site visits, attendance to project meetings, expertise and provision of samples. |
Impact | No outcomes yet. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | WAAM3D partnership through the Royce Industrial Collaboration Programme |
Organisation | WAAM3D Limited |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The PI's team in Strathclyde have contributed expertise, facilities and equipment towards this collaboration. |
Collaborator Contribution | WAAM3D have contributed the following to the PI's research team: 1. Active participation as an industrial partner, providing guidance on requirements/applications, communicating the project team's industrial/commercial robustness needs, and attending meetings (value £2k) 2. Provision of a one-year license, free of charge, for the WAAMPlanner software and WAAMCtrl software, used for path planning, online monitoring, and control of the WAAM process. We will also allocate software engineer time to modify the software for supporting the integration of NDT functions, if necessary (£8k) 3. Allocation of AM engineer time and technical support for WAAM deposition at Strathclyde, and the provision of WAAM samples from WAAM3D for testing (£3k) 4. Design study of laser safety requirement for commercial system (£2k) |
Impact | 1. The designs and build a of robotic laser ultrasound systems for in process wire-based DED inspection of parts 2. A robotic laser ultrasound inspection system that can be integrated to a wire-based DED cell The collaboration is multi-disciplinary bringing together robotic experts, laser ultrasonic inspection leaders and an internationally innovative wire-based DED equipment manufacturer. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Laser ultrasonics for non-contact, in-process NDE during manufacturing in extreme environments |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Laser ultrasonics for non-contact, in-process NDE during manufacturing in extreme environments |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Showcase during the the Annual British Conference on Non-Destructive Testing |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Showcase and remote live demonstration of the laser ultrasonics system at the Showcase Day of the Annual British Conference on Non-Destructive Testing celebrating the 60th anniversary of conferences of the British Institute of NDT. 100 parrticipants from relevant industries, business and practitioners visited the demonstration and discussed the capabilities and limitations of the technique. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.bindt.org/events-and-awards/ndt-2023/showcase-day/ |
Description | Technology Transfer Event at the UK Research Centre for Non Destructive Evaluation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | On line, remote demonstration of the remote ultrasonic volumetric imaging system using Laser Induced Phased Arrays. Around 100 participants from around the world from industrial sectors covering Aerospace, Oil and Gas, Energy, Manufacturing etc as well as organisations such as the British Institute of Non Destructive Testing. Other audience included PGR students and academics from 5 UK Universities. There has been followed up interest for industrial collaborations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023,2024 |
URL | https://rcnde.ac.uk/jan_meetings_online/ |
Description | UKAEA: Pipe Maintenance in Fusion - Online Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | About 50-70 international organisations that are involved in national and international programs for commercialisation of nuclear fusion attended the online workshop related to non-destructive testing of pipes in nuclear fusion power plants. Participants came from all major countries that are actively developing nuclear fusion (e.g. UK, Germany, Japan, France (ITER) etc). Our current developments on pipe inspection were presented and discussed regarding the potential for implementation. These talks have led to current discussion for a research project with the UKAEA. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |