#: locale=en
## Tour
### Description
### Title
tour.name = Non-Destructive Evaluation Lab
## Skin
### Button
Button_7DB31382_7065_343F_41D6_641BBE1B2562.label = NDE Lab Overview Video
Button_7DB31382_7065_343F_41D6_641BBE1B2562_mobile.label = Overview Video
Button_7DB33382_7065_343F_41B1_0B0F019C1828.label = Welcome to the NDE Lab
Button_7DB33382_7065_343F_41B1_0B0F019C1828_mobile.label = Welcome
Button_7DBC8382_7065_343F_4183_17B44518DB40.label = • Lab Entrance
Button_7DBC8382_7065_343F_4183_17B44518DB40_mobile.label = • Entrance
Button_7DBCA382_7065_343F_41DB_48D975E3D9EC.label = • Shearography Room
Button_7DBCA382_7065_343F_41DB_48D975E3D9EC_mobile.label = • Shearography
Button_916E4F9D_B9B1_D14E_41E2_EC7A5820884B.label = QUICK NAVIGATION
Button_916E4F9D_B9B1_D14E_41E2_EC7A5820884B_mobile.label = QUICK NAV
Button_99583990_B9B0_5156_41D8_45532B57372F.label = • Ultrasound Area
Button_99583990_B9B0_5156_41D8_45532B57372F_mobile.label = • Ultrasound
Button_9D316F19_BE50_5156_41C7_BADC0D2A4EC7.label = • Laser Ultrasound Room
Button_9D316F19_BE50_5156_41C7_BADC0D2A4EC7_mobile.label = • Laser Ultrasound
Button_DEE8EDB4_D311_513D_41E7_F4F4843CE2C2.label = • X-ray Area
Button_DEE8EDB4_D311_513D_41E7_F4F4843CE2C2_mobile.label = • X-ray Area
Button_F3E0EB9B_D894_995F_41E5_FC4D6B547307.label = www.aerospace.org
Button_F3E0EB9B_D894_995F_41E5_FC4D6B547307_mobile.label = www.aerospace.org
### Multiline Text
HTMLText_7DB2E382_7065_343F_41C2_951F708170F1.html = The Aerospace Corporation
www.aero.org
John Binkley
SYSTEMS DIRECTOR
The Aerospace Corporation
www.aero.org
John Binkley
SYSTEMS DIRECTOR
Aerospace's Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Lab analyzes parts and materials — without destroying them in the process. Oftentimes a customer needs to know if a component is damaged, but it’s hard to do an inspection because the component is already installed or they don’t want to cut the part open.
This is one of the most advanced NDE labs in the country, and it's the place to go if you have a problem no one else can solve. We are equipped with all major NDE capabilities, and our innovative staff has advanced degrees in materials science, physics, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. We take all that expertise and pit it against the toughest technical challenges, often on a tight deadline.
Explore this lab to see our X-ray, ultrasound, shearography and other capabilities that we use to inspect materials. We often tailor our approach to a specific issue, since each inspection presents its own challenges. We don't just stay in the lab, however. We have a variety of portable methods that we can bring promptly to the site of a problem.
With our breadth of capabilities and expertise, customers with last-minute requests and challenging inspection problems can benefit from our ready-to-deploy inspection techniques.
Key Lab Capabilities:
• Visual-microscopy, SEM, borescope, dye penetrant
• Acoustic emission monitoring
• Radiography-portable sources (flash and microfocus), nano-focus, real time
• Thermography
• Shearography
• Eddy current
• Microwave and millimeter wave
• Ultrasound (contact, phased array, acoustic microscopy, EMAT, air-coupled, laser ultrasound)
Shearography uses laser light to detect defects. The technique is sensitive to nanometers of strain differentials on the surface revealing weak spots due to damage.
Ultrasound can measure surface topography with incredible precision. Here, an ultrasound scan of a dime submerged in water reveals the topography of the coin with 0.34 um resolution – or about 1/100 the size of a human hair.
Eddy current testing uses measurements of changes in conductivity to detect surface cracks and damage. In this example, our custom-designed probe mapped the condition of a carbon fiber composite laminate, enabling us to detect wrinkles and broken fibers.
NASA's Orion will endure temperatures of 5000 degrees when it re-enters Earth's atmosphere. The NDE Lab developed a new tool to make sure the spacecraft -- and those inside -- survive the ride. (Image credit: NASA)
Aerospace's NDE Lab has a reputation for tackling the most frustrating testing problems. We routinely take on inspection challenges that other experts have deemed undoable. As the lab manager puts it, "The easy ones don't come to us."
Here, a scientist uses an acoustic microscope, one of many tools at our disposal to complete inspections.
Our scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) uses sound to image a 3D object layer by layer. Sound waves are emitted by the microscope and the echo recorded. By looking at these echoes in very small time increments, the device can be imaged one layer at a time and the full internal structure reconstructed. In this video, SAM is used to view the inside of a 486DX CPU.
The team is at home in the lab or in the field, bringing their considerable expertise to solve problems. Here, a scientist reads X-rays in the lab. The team also has a patented portable X-ray technique.
During a lifting operation at a launch facility, a payload fairing was possibly damaged. But how to tell? Unfortunately, the various layers of materials made the interior surface inaccessible.
The NDE team quickly fabricated a replica test piece and subjected it to stress to determine how it would break. They then used an ultrasonic inspection to confirm there was no damage and the launch could proceed as planned.
Ultrasound is a technique that uses acoustic pulses to detect small, invisible defects in surfaces and components. This video shows the damage incurred when a bolt was overtightened to a composite plate. Ultrasound techniques pioneered in this lab have broad applicability to defect detection in spacecraft components and materials.
Aerospace is a trusted, impartial, and responsive resource to evaluate parts and materials. Our many tools allow us to respond to a variety of challenges. Our acoustic microscope, shown here, can image the inner and outer parts of a component with sub-micrometer resolution.
During preparation for a launch, the component that connects the payload to the launch vehicle was inadvertently struck by a small object, which caused visible damage. Designed to withstand the high accelerations during ascent, this component is critical during a launch, and damage to the structure could possibly cause catastrophic failure.
With only two days to go until payload encapsulation, the Aerospace NDE team jumped into action. Within 24 hours, they succeeded in experimentally reproducing the damage, developing an inspection plan, delivering personnel to the launch site, performing the inspection of the component, and delivering the results to the government and contractor.
Aerospace confirmed that the composite fibers in the fairing had been damaged, but the damage was below the specified flaw rejection criterion, requiring merely a cosmetic repair. Aerospace’s timely response ensured that there was no impact to the launch schedule, the cost of which can extend to over $1M per day.
It’s not all about space. NDE techniques can be used for terrestrial applications as well. Here, the Aerospace NDE team uses a laser ultrasound to inspect railroad tracks.
A major national space program began experiencing problems with attitude-control thrusters, a large number of which were already installed on spacecraft waiting to be launched. The cost and schedule impacts of removing all those potentially defective thrusters would have been huge, and several industry experts indicated that there was no good way to tell whether a thruster was broken without removing it from the vehicle.
In the face of this challenge, Aerospace’s NDE team came up with a specialized X-ray technique that allowed them to inspect the critical component (springs) encased within stainless steel and heavy copper coil. The government and contractor were ecstatic with the Aerospace technique, which ended up absolving the vast majority of the installed thrusters. Use of this method saved an estimated $10M for this program alone, and the technique was later used for other programs involving the same thruster.
In the middle picture, yellow circles are positioned on top of the bright spots in the spring image for comparison with the right graphic of an improperly seated spring.
While we perfect our inspection techniques in the lab, we often deploy them in the field. Many components cannot be easily brought to the lab, so we develop portable tools that can be used anywhere they are needed. Here, a member of the NDE team uses an ultrasound technique to inspect a rocket nozzle.
Infrared camera imagery, which visualizes the temperature distribution in a component or surface, can be used to detect tiny defects and degradations that may not be visible to the naked eye.
In this video, an infrared camera monitored the surface temperature of a simulated satellite component as hot and cold water was flowed through it.
Aerospace's Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Lab analyzes parts and materials — without destroying them in the process. Oftentimes a customer needs to know if a component is damaged, but it’s hard to do an inspection because the component is already installed or they don’t want to cut the part open.
This is one of the most advanced NDE labs in the country, and it's the place to go if you have a problem no one else can solve. We are equipped with all major NDE capabilities, and our innovative staff has advanced degrees in materials science, physics, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. We take all that expertise and pit it against the toughest technical challenges, often on a tight deadline.
Explore this lab to see our X-ray, ultrasound, shearography and other capabilities that we use to inspect materials. We often tailor our approach to a specific issue, since each inspection presents its own challenges. We don't just stay in the lab, however. We have a variety of portable methods that we can bring promptly to the site of a problem.
With our breadth of capabilities and expertise, customers with last-minute requests and challenging inspection problems can benefit from our ready-to-deploy inspection techniques.
Key Lab Capabilities
• Visual-microscopy, SEM, borescope, dye penetrant
• Acoustic emission monitoring
• Radiography-portable sources (flash and microfocus), nano-focus, real time
• Thermography
• Ultrasound (contact, phased array, acoustic microscopy, EMAT, air-coupled, laser ultrasound)
• Shearography
• Eddy current
• Microwave and millimeter wave
Infrared camera imagery, which visualizes the temperature distribution in a component or surface, can be used to detect tiny defects and degradations that may not be visible to the naked eye.
In this video, an infrared camera monitored the surface temperature of a simulated satellite component as hot and cold water was flowed through it.
In the midst of preparations for two critical launches, a sub-contractor discovered an issue on their production line that caused some of their parts to be unreliable, which could result in mission failure. Unsure how long the production problem had been in place, the contractor recommended replacement of all hardware already on the launch vehicles. This would be a major undertaking, causing expensive delays.
The Aerospace team rapidly inspected a series of known suspect parts and created high-resolution 3D maps through CT scans so they would know what to look for. Next, they developed a portable X-ray technique that could be performed onsite. Using this method, the team determined that the hardware on the two launch vehicles was not affected and the launches could proceed without costly delay.
The contractor then used the technique developed by Aerospace to evaluate additional hardware at their manufacturing facility, and determined that the suspect hardware was limited to that produced during a single day of operation. This collaborative effort between Aerospace and the contractor significantly reduced the rework due to the suspect hardware.
In the midst of preparations for two critical launches, a sub-contractor discovered an issue on their production line that caused some of their parts to be unreliable, which could result in mission failure. Unsure how long the production problem had been in place, the contractor recommended replacement of all hardware already on the launch vehicles. This would be a major undertaking, causing expensive delays.
The Aerospace team rapidly inspected a series of known suspect parts and created high-resolution 3D maps through CT scans so they would know what to look for. Next, they developed a portable X-ray technique that could be performed onsite. Using this method, the team determined that the hardware on the two launch vehicles was not affected and the launches could proceed without costly delay.
The contractor then used the technique developed by Aerospace to evaluate additional hardware at their manufacturing facility, and determined that the suspect hardware was limited to that produced during a single day of operation. This collaborative effort between Aerospace and the contractor significantly reduced the rework due to the suspect hardware.
The Orion heatshield, a critical component to keep astronauts safe, needed to be properly tested.
NASA tried many methods to probe the heatshield material, with limited success. Traditional nondestructive methods, such as X-ray and ultrasonic inspection, were simply not up to the task. Fortunately, the Aerospace NDE lab specializes in solving thorny testing problems!
The team developed the innovative technique shown in this video, which garnered a NASA award for enabling a "previously unobtainable full inspection of the critical Orion heatshield bondline."