Center for NDE staff work to improve a variety of inspection methods with one of our premier programs focused on fluorescent penetrant inspection.  (Left:  ISU lab facilities support quantitative research in penetrant methods)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides funding to the Center for Aviation Systems Reliability (CASR) program at ISU to support a 54-month program initiated in September 2001.   The program will determine the most relevant factors for which existing data is insufficient, assess the parameter ranges that provide acceptable performance for typical aircraft and engine components, and document the results of these studies.  The program team includes CNDE staff partnered with Boeing Commercial Airplane Company, Boeing Phantom Works, Rolls Royce, Pratt & Whitney, General Electric Aircraft Engines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Sherwin Inc., and D&W Enterprises.  Under way for about one year, the program has established an engineering studies plan that will address factors ranging from cleaning of the part in preparation for FPI through adequate light levels in the inspection booth.  The program team met January 16-17, 2003, for their annual planning meeting.  Definition of the engineering studies subtasks was completed and plans are under way to begin the data gathering.  In the first year of the program, a drying study was completed comparing flash drying and oven drying at a range of temperatures and for level 2, 3, and 4 penetrants.  The results of that study and full details of the program are available at http://www.cnde.iastate.edu/faa-casr/fpi.  The program builds on prior work completed by the Engine Titanium Consortium with an example shown below.  The complete results of the ETC cleaning and drying study will be published by FAA report in the spring of 2003.    For additional details, please feel free to contact Lisa Brasche, CASR Program Manager, at lbrasche@cnde.iastate.edu. 

Far left is an optical image of a low cycle fatigue crack prior to mechanical cleaning processes.  left images show the UVA response from the crack prior to the wet glass bead treatment with a brightness of 7.2 foot-lamberts.  The indication was not found after mechanical blasting with wet glass bead.  A subsequent four-step alkaline cleaning process returned a portion of the indication at a lower brightness of 4.4 foot-lamberts.  The far right optical image shows the severe surface damage imparted by the wet glass bead process.  It is recommended that wet glass bead not be used on parts that will undergo subsequent fluorescent penetrant inspection.