Transducers for phaser XS allow more effective scanning of composite components

Citation

(2007), "Transducers for phaser XS allow more effective scanning of composite components", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 79 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2007.12779eab.007

Transducers for phaser XS allow more effective scanning of composite components

Transducers for phaser XS allow more effective scanning of composite components

A new ultrasonic, phased array transducer, featuring “hard water” acoustic material, is said to ensure that the Phaser XS ultrasonic flaw detector from GE Inspection Technologies can now provide even more effective scanning of composite components and structures. Since, its launch at last year's Farnborough Air Show, the Phaser XS has brought phased array flaw-imaging capability to everyday inspection in an easy-to-use, portable and affordable ultrasonic instrument. It can reportedly drastically reduce inspection times and improve probability of detection throughout the whole aerospace process chain, from manufacture down to airframe and engine maintenance, repair and operations. The development of the new transducers now enhances the instrument's effectiveness in the scanning and inspection of the composite components and structures, which are increasingly being specified in the aerospace sector.

With conventional phased array inspection of composites, the transducers are often held about 1/2in. (12cm) from the composite surface. The array is enclosed with a plastic housing that is filled with water to provide the ultrasonic coupling. However, when scanning components and structures that have holes or other manufacturing design features, the coupling water column can be lost, so that the area under the array is not inspected.

To solve this problem, GE has replaced 90 per cent of the conventional water column with a solid material, termed “hard water,” which closely emulates the acoustic properties of water. Consequently, the water gap is now reduced to 10 per cent of its previous size and refills very quickly after passing over holes, minimizing the uninspected area and maximizing inspection coverage. Furthermore, the acoustic properties of the “hard water” are said to allow significant improvement in near surface resolution, compared with conventional water-coupled scanning.

A wide range of array probes are compatible with the Phaser XS, including dialog probes, containing probe identification data that can be transmitted back to the instrument to ensure increased inspection reliability, minimise set-up errors and assist in probe operation calculations. In conventional mode, the Phaser XS can use standard ultrasonic probes to carry out conventional inspection, including corrosion and thickness measurement.

When used in phased array mode, the instrument can drive arrays with up to 64 elements using any 16 of them to form a “virtual probe.” The operator can select a firing sequence for the 16 elements to achieve precise control over the angle of inspection and the depth of focus of each individual ultrasonic beam. The inspection image is presented as a full colour, sector or linear B-scan on the unit's high- resolution TFT screen, providing comprehensive data in real time. Any of the A-scans that make up the image can be selected for separate display or for simultaneous display with the image to allow instant and reliable sizing. B- scan images and A-scans can be stored on a removable SP card for off-line data analysis and management.

With its familiar operating platform and easy-to-understand, menu-driven inspection instructions, the new battery-powered Phaser XS requires little operator training and is available at less than half the price of conventional phased array systems.

Ruggedly packaged and weighing less than 4kg, the Phaser XS is a logical progression of GE's field-proven, flaw detection product range, offering an ideal entry-level phased array solution to manual volumetric inspections of a wide range of aircraft components. It will find application both for in-service inspections and also in the production environment where both GE's LogiQ9 phased array system, which drives up to 1,024 probe elements, and GE's UTXX testing machine, which drives 128 elements for large, complex area scanning, are already widely used in the examination of aircraft engine forgings and airframe OEM composite components, respectively.

Details available from: GE Inspection Technologies, Tel: +1 7174471235, E-mail: dane.hackenberger@ge.com