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Technology update
Composite part inspection
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Lockheed Martin has begun using Laser UT for inspecting composite
F-22 parts. This marks the first time the system has been used to
inspect production parts for the company.
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To improve quality and decrease time-to-market, Lockheed Martin
Aeronautics Co. constructed a $10 million facility at its Fort Worth,
TX, site: the Laser Ultrasonic Technology (Laser UT) Center. The
facility, which measures approximately 10,000 ft2, was the result of
more than 16 years of research and development conducted by the company
with the support of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Materials
and Manufacturing Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH.
The Laser UT technology was developed to allow timely testing of
composite parts with complex geometries. This testing and inspection
are needed to find any air pockets, structural damage, delaminations,
or other potential flaws in a composite part that may lead to failure under load.
Traditionally composite part inspection was performed using water-coupled
ultrasonic devices, which could take up to 24 h to inspect composite
parts such as the F-22 Raptor's inlet duct. According to Lockheed
Martin, this same part can be inspected in less than 2 h in the Laser
UT Center. Also, unlike conventional inspection methods that require
access to both sides of a composite surface for inspection, Laser UT
only requires access to one side of the part's surface, enabling more
complex-contoured parts to be tested.
The Laser UT Center is designed to test large composite parts up to
54 x 27 x 21 ft, such as the composite fuel tank being produced for
the X-33 VentureStar vehicle. According to Lockheed Martin, it might
be possible to eventually build a similar, but larger facility to scan
an entire aircraft. The facility also includes a test control room, a
demonstration area, and a laser research laboratory. The center's
supercomputer hardware and graphical visualization software provide
machine operators with a highly automated environment and advanced
interactive data analysis tools.
Frank Bokulich
Aerospace Engineering August 2000
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