Creation of reference materials for verification of Non Linear Acoustics NDT

This project will develop specialised reference artefacts, using novel fabrication methods, that validate and verify the capabilities of Non-Linear Acoustics (NLA) equipment for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT).

Commercial aviation, Aerospace, Defence and Automotive industries are investing heavily in the scale-up of Additive Manufacturing (AM) of metals. To enable widescale adoption new NDT technologies are required to test the integrity of these manufactured parts. Manufacturers require the capabilities of such equipment to be validated and verified against certified standards.

Current defect calibration standards are inadequate or unrepresentative of the defects seen in AM processes and therefore new standards must be created with seeded and qualified defects which are relevant to the real world. These will then subsequently be used to verify a new generation of NDT equipment.