Composite components are used extensively in the design of new generation aircraft. During manufacturing, the aircraft’s structural components must be inspected with ultrasonic technology to ensure their integrity. However, this inspection can be challenging. Some components have very complex shapes where the surfaces are constantly changing. In addition, some manufacturing processes have loose production tolerances that result in components with slightly different shapes than the original design. In these varying circumstances, complex automated scanners are commonly required for ultrasonic inspections to maintain an ultrasonic beam normal to the component’s changing surface. However, even then there is no guarantee that the ultrasonic beams will remain perpendicular to the part’s surface.
The use of an adaptive ultrasonic method with phased array is a solution to inspecting components with complex shapes. This setup locally applies a correction to the ultrasonic beams, helping ensure the beams propagate normal to the surface at each inspection position.