Currently NPL only offers AC Electrical Conductivity Standards with a stated accuracy of +/-0.7% of value.
The Boeing standard BAC5651 calls for standards above 16.5MS/m to have an accuracy of +/- 0.12MS/m up to 60.5 MS/m (which at the extreme value is +/-0.2%).
New Boeing and NIST calibrated standards are no longer available due to national public service cut backs.
NPL have carried out a test under a M4R project (ref 10643) and shown that using the Van der Pauw Method they can achieve comparable accuracy but need more work to refine the measurement methodology and improved measuring equipment.
The ability to provide UKAS compliant NPL DC Electrical Conductivity Standards would ensure ETher NDE's continuing growth in sales of this product.
WeldVue brings together leading innovators from the UK and Turkey with the SMART framework. The objective of the project is to implement advanced AI-based model for automotive parts manufacturing processes, optimisation, and reconfiguration -- Targeting critical welded components. The application of the WeldVue framework in a manufacturing line will result in the fabrication of high-quality products with near-zero defects. The digitalisation elements toward industry 4.0 will be complemented by a novel, first of a kind hybrid non-destructive testing platform for quality control purposes. Replacing the manual techniques currently utilised.
Initially targeting high volume automotive sector, the technology has long term commercial value within aerospace, energy, and wider manufacturing domains. WeldVue enables UK SMEs STL and Ether to engage with Turkish Tier 1 automotive supplier Coskunoz. Supported by UK research partners TWI and Brunel (BUL), the final system will undergo a prolonged validation period within Coskunoz production plant ensure rapid market take-up. With Turkish automation specialist Teknopar supporting the complete platform integration into the operational environment.
The use of composite materials in aerospace manufacture is accelerating fast, with the most modern aircraft in the world's fleet now more than 50% composite materials. These new-generation aeroplanes are lighter, more fuel-efficient, and so more profitable, as well as significantly reducing CO2 emissions compared to traditional aluminium planes. However, composite materials are much more expensive to produce, partly because they are not yet as well-understood as metals, so the industry spends millions every year slowly inspecting each part for flaws before it is deemed safe enough to take its place in an aircraft, and inspecting composite components is not easy.
Carbon fibre composite is in many ways an ideal material for aerospace construction, being less dense than aluminium, with a greater stiffness-to-weight ratio. It does not corrode and it is less susceptible to fatigue. Carbon fibre components can be moulded directly into their required geometry, reducing the need for vulnerable bonded areas. But there is also the possibility of introducing weakened areas when constructing the material itself - fibres can break or move out of alignment, layers can separate, gaps can open up, and this can all happen invisibly, deep within the internal structure of the material, weakening it and leading to unexpected failure.
Manufacturers need techniques to inspect the internal structure of their carbon fibre components and CFLUX is designed to do just that. The inspiration comes from traditional eddy current non-destructive testing techniques that have been used for aluminium aircraft. These are fast and effective for finding hidden flaws but rely on the good conductivity of metals. Carbon fibre is 1000 times less conductive than aluminium, making eddy current testing impossible, until now.
The CFLUX consortium have developed innovative sensor technology that can give sensitivities 1000 times greater than before, retrieving high-quality, high-resolution signals that were previously unachievable. Not only that, but this technology is tiny, making it easy to develop into multi-sensor arrays that are resilient, flexible and ideal for use in the production-line robotics necessary to really speed up and reduce the cost of the inspection process.
Robotic inspections using CFLUX are expected to be more than 30 times faster than current processes, reducing inspection costs from £1,292 to just £72 for a single 34m2 composite component. This supports the aerospace industry in its drive for safe aircraft that are lighter, more cost-efficient, and have a reduced impact on our environment.
"Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an emerging technology for rapid prototype manufacturing, benefitting aerospace and medical devices, as the immediate manufacturing of high-value, complex structured components is usually necessary in these industries. Hence, the structural integrity of printed structures is extremely important and should meet the specifications and high standards of the above industries. In several metal AM techniques, e.g. selective laser melting (SLM), electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM) and wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), residual stresses and micro-cracks that occur during the manufacturing procedure can result in irreversible damage and structural failure of the object after its manufacturing. Repetitive faults which occur during manufacturing due to incorrect estimation of appropriate operating conditions of the printer should be eliminated, as any waste is undesirable and costly for a company.
The nature of some AM methods means that not all Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques are effective in detecting residual stresses. Thermography, X-ray computed tomography (CT scan), or digital radiography are limited by the resolution of images (thermography), they are bulky and costly (up to £100k), are not suited to residual stress detection. Our solution, EM-ReSt, functions as an add-on to existing AM processes, comprising two sets of NDT techniques: Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMAT) and Eddy Current Testing. A crucial (and novel) extension of the proposed system is the incorporation of big data collection from the sensors and analysis through machine learning (ML) for estimating the likelihood of the AM techniques to introduce anomalies into the printed structures before the beginning of the manufacturing. A digital system that will estimate the potential and deficiencies of any AM technique for given structures will be developed and utilised for the establishment of a preliminary set of AM standards. Hence, more robust and reliable components will be printed and used.
EM-ReSt is fast (msecs/measurement and overall scanning time does not exceed a minute), reliable (90% PoD), non-destructive online monitoring of AM techniques, can achieve 15% reduction of faulty outputs with the use of 4 times more cost-effective monitoring system, has low profile sensing hardware with potential for EMAT and EC miniaturization. Our initial target markets are the global aerospace and automotive component manufacturing market. This project represents a clear technological innovation for the UK AM industry, and major growth opportunity for the SME supply chain consortium, which is forecast to generate revenues of £72.5M and 362 new jobs 5 years post-commercialisation."
The SEAMLESS project represents a major technical and commercial advance in the area ofpost processing for additive manufacturing. The poor surface quality for AM parts has been amajor barrier for full process adoption, which will be addressed in this project. The SEAMLESSsolution combines a number of surface finishing and post processing technologies includingsuper finishing, laser peening, laser polishing and adaptive linishing, together with in-processinspection and simulation tools to address the post processing requirement for the widestrange of end-users. This will be underpinned by a digital platform to ensure full and seamlessconnectivity between all aspects of the solution, leading to significant cost and time reduction.The outcome of this will be a flexible, automated and digitally enabled solution for post processing for AM.
Project for assessing the feasibility of manufacturing a flexible eddy current non-destructive testing a wide area probe use array technology.