SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1980
STP29258S

CAUS-1 (Computer-Aided Ultrasonic System)

Source

This paper reports on the construction of a computer aided ultrasonic inspection system (CAUS-1) which does not require inspection shapes to have premachined rectilinear surfaces nor the large material overstock needed by conventional inspection methods.

The main features of CAUS-1 include a contour sensing-following system, computer controlled ultrasonic instrumentation, and flexible software package. The contour following system maintains the inspection beam normal to the inspection surface and enables dimensional measurement of the shape simultaneously with ultrasonic inspection. The ultrasonic instrumentation can resolve a number one flat bottom hole (FBH) 2 mm from the front surface and through 35 mm of material using a single instrument setting. The instrument has a special defect gate that reports the magnitude and position of the two largest indications detected by each ultrasonic pulse. A knowledge of computer programming is not needed in order to use CAUS-1, because inspection procedures are developed interactively using English language. The software contains data analysis features for process control inputs, inspection data archival storage, dimensional inspection, and a method of inputting shape data into a computer aided machining system (CAM).

CAUS-1 is a fully integrated inspection system that can inspect near-net shapes for material defects and dimensional tolerance in a quarter of the time it takes to inspect a disk for material defects alone using conventional inspection methods.

Author Information

Doherty, JE
Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, Middletown, Conn.
LaGrotta, JM
Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, Middletown, Conn.
Burr, RJ
Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, Middletown, Conn.
Wheeler, E
Air Force Materials Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
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Details
Developed by Committee: E28
Pages: 201–218
DOI: 10.1520/STP29258S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-4778-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-0267-5