NCMS This Quarter: Non-Destructive Inspection
NCMS is dedicating the third quarter of 2018 to non-destructive inspection (NDI)—the methods and technologies that allow systems and components to be assessed while leaving them unaltered. Many common inspection methods rely on placing stress on, extracting samples from, or damaging an object in a controlled way to assess its performance or integrity. However, the modern world is full of examples of infrastructure, vehicles and vehicles systems, and machinery—engines, aircraft wings, bridge trusses, and oil pipelines, to name a few— that are in continuous use and for which that isn’t an option.
When the object under inspection needs to come out of the process unaltered, NDI methods such as ultrasound, radiography, and thermography are invaluable. From July through the end of September, NCMS will highlight the work its work and that of its partners in this important area of maintenance.
Every month, we will spotlight a current or recent NDI-related project that expands the horizons of this crucial field. Work our partners have done in the past includes pioneering time spectral measurement interferometry (TSMI) sensor technology, which can measure flaws in turbine rotor compressor blades down to the level of microns (i.e., millionths of a meter), or large-scale thermographic analysis of composite surfaces on aircraft that can inspect hundreds of square feet in 15 minutes.
In addition, expect highlights from the events NCMS will organize or attend over the next three months. In July, NCMS will host a showcase open to technology providers in all fields in Yokosuka, Japan, to connect U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka to other organizations whose technologies can benefit shipyard operations. In August, NCMS will attend the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS) in Novi, MI, a three-day event bringing together industry leaders, government officials, and academics to discuss manned and unmanned systems.