World
leading ultrasonic
inspection systems and instruments
     
     
For more than 20 years we have supplied automated and semi-automated ultrasonic testing
systems to meet the requirements of the most demanding customers throughout the
world. These incorporate our highly versatile PC based ultrasonic instruments
with an unrivalled combination of sensitivity, signal to noise ratio and
immunity to external noise sources.
We design and manufacture the complete system, including
mechanical scanning units, electrical / electronic control, ultrasonics and
software. You can rely on us to ensure that whatever system you need, it will
perform quickly and reliably to the highest standards.
We
can provide equipment designed to solve a specific inspection problem or
suitable for general purpose applications. The systems can be used for
generation of ultrasonic images of components using scanning mechanisms coupled
with data acquisition electronics, or they can automatically sort materials into
accept or reject categories.
Click
on the "products" link at the top of this page to see a selection of
the products we manufacture. The systems are divided into specific types - for
example immersion systems, squirter systems and so on. You
can see our latest Newsletter on the Download page. Contact us on info@ultrasonic-sciences.co.uk
or by phone on + 44 (0)1252 350550.
LATEST NEWS JANUARY 2012
A new system has been delivered to Hindustan Aeronautics
in Bangalore, India for inspection of complex composite parts. This is our
first installation supplied to an aerospace manufacturer in India, although we
have supplied systems to the railway industry in India for many years. The
machine (below) is an 11 axis gantry style squirter system with a scan volume
of 4 x 2 x 2.5 metres (X x Y x Z) and is designed for testing dual curvature
parts using both through transmission and pulse echo techniques. 
An upgrade of a 6 axis immersion system has been completed at
BAE Systems in UK to bring it up to current standards in software control and
Machinery Safety. This has been used for many years for inspection of various
titanium alloy components manufactured by the SPFDB process for the
Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.
Another system upgrade at an aluminium plate manufacturer has
been completed, by replacing the original ultrasonic units by a USL 8 channel
ultrasonic and software system.
2011 was a record year for Ultrasonic Sciences, both for
systems delivered and orders received. 2012 is already shaping up to beat this
record. Currently we have a total of 6 large complex geometry systems in
manufacture, five of these for composite manufacturers in China and one in
Europe. These have three different configurations in various sizes. 1.
Horizontal arm systems, similar to the system below left. 2.
Vertical arm gantry system, below right. 3. A system combining
both horizontal and vertical arms. In addition we have orders
for a number of immersion systems for various applications  
During the last 3 months we have been very active
in delivering and installing systems - at the same time new orders are at the highest ever level.
A total of 7 multi axis
immersion units have now been installed in a new manufacturing facility at Rolls-Royce
Singapore. In addition a similar new unit has been installed at the
Rolls-Royce fan blade manufacturing facility in UK. These are three and six axis systems for non
contact inspection of titanium alloy fan blades and are used for both C
scan defect inspection and thickness monitoring. Another
6 axis contour following immersion system has been installed at BAE
Systems, primarily for inspection of diffusion bonded titanium parts. The
system has a scan area of 3 x 2 x 1 metre and incorporates a lift and rotate
fixture so that both sides of a component can be inspected in a single
inspection cycle, without operator intervention. The system incorporates a new
design of dual angle manipulator for access into tighter curves than was
possible previously. The manipulator uses Renishaw absolute encoders and
Harmonic Drive units to ensure zero backlash motion and very precise
positioning. This is shown below.
An ICAM acoustic microscope
has been installed at Albright International in Lithuania. This joins
similar units at their factories in UK and Shanghai, China where they are used
for inspection of brazed joints on electrical contactors. Instrumentation
and software upgrades have been completed at GKN Aerospace and Goodrich in
USA, in conjunction with our partners, Arcadia Aerospace.
The largest squirter system built so far by USL
has been delivered and installed at Xifei Aircraft in Xian, China. The system, shown below, has a
scan volume of 11 x 2 x 3 metres (X x Y x Z) and incorporates 10 active
scanning axes and 5 motorised fixture axes. In addition to the usual single
squirters for simultaneous through transmission and pulse echo inspection, it
incorporates three other scanning modes:
a) dual frequency squirters with annular and
central transducers for simultaneous
inspection at 1MHz and 5/10MHz. This enables the through transmission
inspection and pulse echo inspections to be carried out using the optimum
frequency.
b) dual side by side squirters, offset from
each other in the Z axis plane. This effectively scans two lines at the same
time, thus reducing the scan time by half when testing flat or single
curvature parts.
c) a small profile manipulator for inspection
of small concave radius parts, such as "D nose" and "J
nose" leading edge parts. This manipulator is used in conjunction with
a conventional squirter housing on the convex surface of the tested part.
The first three in a total of 8 immersion
systems have been installed in a new Rolls Royce facility in Singapore. A further 3 identical units
are now in transit to the same site with the remainder following later in the
year. These are 5 axis systems for inspection of diffusion bonded titanium
alloy parts. One special feature is the ability to self learn the surface
profile of each part before it is inspected so that the non-contact probe
follower can adjust its trajectory for perfect normalisation throughout the
scan. It does this by ultrasonically measuring the position of the surface and
then automatically correcting the probe trajectory in 3 Dimensions.
The
3 systems are shown below in the USL factory during the final stages of
assembly.
The second system manufactured by USL in 1989
has been upgraded with a
new computer, ultrasonic data acquisition and software together with mechanical
modifications to the Z axis. This will be delivered to a company in Seville,
Spain for high resolution inspection of critical microelectronic components,
such as those assembled into spacecraft modules. We look forward to a further upgrade
in 2030 after another 20 years of operation!
Acceptance of USL systems for composite
inspection continues at a pace with the latest multi axis squirter unit
installed at CTRM Aero Composites in Melaka, Malaysia. Following acceptance
tests at the USL factory the 15 tonne system was dismantled, packed and
airfreighted to the customer. Re-assembly and commissioning was completed by
USL engineers in 6 days, followed by acceptance tests and training. In common
with similar systems installed in UK, China, Netherlands and Denmark the unit,
shown below, has 10 independent scanning axes and 5 motorised fixture axes. It
carries out through transmission C scans in logarithmic mode and pulse echo
scans in linear mode simultaneously, whilst following the surface of parts
with complex curvature. 
The
delivery of this system was no mean feat, requiring the services of a
nose-loading B747 aircraft as shown in the pictures.  
The
sequence of events from leaving the USL factory to moving into position at the
end user site can be seen on YouTube using the following link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3PesbwOgaV8
An immersion system has been installed at Voest
Alpine Stahl in Austria. The unit is used for automated scanning of prepared
cross sections cut from steel billets to record the material quality -
essentially replacing laborious metallographic inclusion counting. This is the
second such system at this customer, the first having been commissioned 3
years ago. Data is transferred between the factory mainframe computer and the
USL computer to identify the incoming samples and to store all the automatic
evaluation results identified to individual casts. 
A six
axis immersion system has been completed for inspection of titanium fan blades
for the F35 joint Strike Fighter. These blades are part of the Rolls
Royce lift fan which provides the vertical and short take off capability on
one variant of the F35. The system will be used for precise thickness
monitoring of the blades before assembly.
Also, a new order has been
placed for a system for testing other titanium parts destined for the same
aircraft. The system - again 6 axes - will inspect complex contoured parts
made by diffusion bonding and superplastic forming. Both sides of the parts
will be tested in a single sequence by automatically rotating through 180
degrees after the scan of one side has been completed.
Even if you watched the programme, you might
have missed it, but a USL C scan system appeared on the recent BBC programme
"How to build jumbo jet engine". You can see this again at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00t0yx9/How_to_build..._A_Jumbo_Jet_Engine/ Our
system is shown in close up between 16:37 and 16:42 in the 1 hour programme
scanning across a blade making thickness measurements. This system uses a
contact follower and is therefore on of the simplest of the 15 or so machines
installed at Rolls Royce where the blades are manufactured. USL is the
exclusive supplier of ultrasonic testing systems to the Rolls Royce blade
manufacturing plant. In addition to this we are currently manufacturing 8
systems for a new Rolls Royce factory in Singapore.
Our latest multi-axis complex geometry squirter
system for composite inspection has been installed at Terma in Denmark. The system has a scan volume of 5 x 2 x 3 metres (X x Y x Z) with 10
scanning axes and 5 motorised fixture axes.
A second system has been delivered to a UK engineering
company, similar to the one supplied earlier in the month and illustrated in
the item below.
We are now operating in our expanded production
space, giving us room for assembly of systems which is more than double its
previous area. Our original factory (Unit 4) is retained but we have now added
Unit 8. At the same time we have increased our staffing levels to cover the
current order levels and expected future business.
The first system to be manufactured by USL in 1989 has been
upgraded and re-installed at Applied Materials Technology Ltd. in Lincoln, who
rescued it when it was destined for disposal. It had been in regular use in the intervening 21 years,
but the data acquisition and software was outdated. The
mechanical scanning system is still in good condition and needed no
improvement. A new computer, analogue digital converter and motion control
boards have been incorporated. The original PC based pulser receiver was
retained without change - this was not envisaged when the board was designed.
At that time the technology lifetime of these products was expected to be
about 5 years!.  
The
mechanical scanning system, still fully functional after 21 years, together
with a
typical
screen display showing the digital
A scan and C scan image. This is just one example
of the longevity of USL machines. Almost all of the systems we have supplied
are still in use - many of them being used on 2 shift operation 6 days a week.
The first of two special purpose inspection systems, shown
below, has been delivered to a specialist UK engineering company. This will be
used for inspection of roto-symmetrical products such as cylinders and cones,
using a non-contact bubbler probe.
The 4 axis mechanical system is self contained, with a
couplant tank and recirculation system . The industrial computer which
controls the system is housed in a 19" rack, together with the motion
drives, ultrasonic and data acquisition system and safety circuits. A stand
alone operator workstation is provided which includes an IP65 rated keyboard
and LCD monitor, joystick controller and external CD / DVD drive. The software
includes provision for teach and learn programming of part shapes for contour
following purposes, and also a sequential calibration routine for the
collision sensor, thickness measurement and concentricity measurement before a
scan can be carried out. C scan plots are generated in
rectilinear and polar modes with special routines for measurement of defect
sizes and areas. Measurements are made using on-screen cursors, with sizes
displayed as true surface measurements taking account of the part curvature.
Another order has been received for a 17 axis system for
inspection of complex geometry composite parts. This will be used by a UK
manufacturer of components for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter and becomes the
fifth such system supplied to European aerospace companies for this project
and the ninth in total manufactured since 2010. Users include BAE Systems,
Fokker Aerospace and Hafei Aviation. These machines are
produced with independent, horizontally opposed 5 axis probe manipulators
shown below.
These were developed by USL to permit users to scan complex
shapes having curvature in two directions, whilst maintaining the sound beam
normal to the part surface on both sides and also coaxial with one another for
through transmission inspection. When first introduced this
axis configuration was unusual because the conventional way to construct
ultrasonic squirter systems was to use the normal "portal" or gantry
style, with vertical columns supporting the probe manipulators. The USL
horizontal arm system was undoubtedly more difficult to design and build,
requiring simultaneous control of all 10 scanning axes. Acceptance in the
aerospace industry was quite slow because of this. However, this type of
design has now become normal and has been copied by other manufacturers,
albeit with reduced capability when compared with the USL systems. The
capability in terms of motion control has now been extended to the portal
style of system, such as some of the units described below. This type is
better suited to immersion systems and those which include a turntable.
USL will supply eight multi-axis immersion systems for
installation in a new aerospace manufacturing facility in Singapore. Some
systems will be dedicated to C scan inspection of bonded parts and others will
be used for thickness monitoring of the complex finished components. The
machines will be built in the recently expanded USL factory in Aldershot and
will be installed sequentially during late 2010 and early 2011. This
is the largest single order ever received by USL and is testimony to the
performance and reliability of similar systems supplied over the years to the
same customer in UK.
An advanced immersion inspection system has been supplied to a
UK manufacturer of aerospace components. Although this is a relatively small
system, it is the most complex machine that USL has built in terms of the
number of axes used during a scan and the amount of data acquired during the
scan.
There are 12 axes in total - X, X1, X2, Y1, Y2, Z1, Z2, A1,
A2, B1, B2 and R. These are used in combination to scan complex composite
products which are held in a rotating fixture shown in the picture below. The
principal scan axis is in the Z direction, with all other axes moving at the
same time to maintain normal incidence and alignment of transducers on both
sides of the part. Multi gate C scan data is acquired in both pulse echo and
through transmission modes and full waveform data is stored simultaneously for
processing later.
Pulse echo data is acquired in linear amplifier mode with DAC
(distance amplitude correction) and through transmission data in logarithmic
mode, giving an optimum combination of results for evaluation of the product.
This picture shows a calibration standard mounted in the
rotating fixture to check for alignment of the manipulators on both sides
A steelworks in Austria has ordered a second immersion system
from USL to be used for automated quality control checking of billet samples.
The system will scan multiple cross sectional slices in a "step and
repeat" mode, automatically adjusting the water path on each sample so
that the results are comparable across all samples, even when the section
thickness varies.
A second "ICAM" acoustic microscope will be supplied
to a UK manufacturer of electrical components for routine inspection of brazed
products. The system generates records of "% voids" at the joint
interface by analysing C scan images using simple analysis routines. The
original machine will also be upgraded to the current hardware and software
standard. The systems will be used not only in the UK factory but also in a
new factory recently completed in Shanghai, China.
A laboratory scanning system at Oxford University has been
upgraded with the latest USL PM30 Pulser Receiver and 250MHz analog - digital
converter, together with our latest scan utility software. This enables
researchers to generate multiple gate C scan images and to acquire and process
full waveform data. The system was first supplied in 1993 incorporating an
expansion crate with the ultrasonic, motion control and data acquisition
electronics. These are now all housed in the desktop PC.
A multi-purpose system (shown below) has been installed at a
UK aerospace manufacture, capable of performing a number of different
inspection tasks on widely differing components, including:
1. Testing bonded joints on shafts up to 4m long located on
a turntable, using a double through transmission method.
2. Testing electron beam welded joints from the internal and
external surfaces, using pulse echo and through transmission modes.
3. Testing composite tubes on a roller system.
4. Testing forged and machined titanium alloy products.
In some of these applications the automated inspection
replaces a laborious manual task, whilst in the bonded joints application the
inspection time is reduced by a factor of about 10X in comparison with the
previous method.
Read an article about some of the latest USL
developments in the "Aerospace Testing International 2010 Review"
at: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/2d772b66#/2d772b66/90
or alternatively get the article from our download page.
Factory acceptance trials on a 17 axis complex
geometry squirter inspection system have been successfully completed at USL.
The system will now be partially dismantled for transport and
installation at BAE SYSTEMS in Samlesbury, UK, joining two other similar
systems on the same site. The system has 10 simultaneous scanning axes, 5
programmable motorised fixture axes and 2 "axes" which actively
control the pump speed for the squirters.
The acceptance trials included not only
functional tests on representative composite parts, but also EMC testing
together with PUWER and CE certification assessment by an accredited third
party.
USL has installed an upgraded ultrasonic, data
acquisition and motion control system on a Krautkramer scanner at a UK
aerospace R&D laboratory. The upgrade provides a comprehensive ultrasonic
capability, with software for multi-gate C scan imaging together with full RF
acquisition and processing.
-
2009 New orders - immersion
systems
Recent orders have been placed for three immersion systems
by two different UK customers. One will be used for automated thickness
monitoring of diffusion bonded fan blades, with two way links with the customers CAD system. This will upload the optically measured surface profile,
which will be used to modify pre-programmed ultrasonic scan routines so that
they will perfectly match the component. The thickness measurement data will
then be downloaded back to the CAD system for analysis.
Two special purpose systems have also been ordered for an
engineering application. These are 4 axis systems incorporating a bubbler
probe, with the capability for programmed contour following of
roto-symmetrical parts.
-
2009
Installation and acceptance -
immersion inspection system for composites
A 5 axis immersion system for composite inspection has been
installed at BAE SYSTEMS. This has two separate functions, depending on the
type of part to be tested. For complex geometry components, it uses a single
transducer to follow surface contours. For flat and single curvature parts
multi element phased array probes are used to achieve high speed inspections.
For example with a 128 element array probe scanning at a 1mm inspection pitch,
a throughput of 1 m2 per minute can be achieved, thanks to a
recent development of USL's PHASYS array electronics.
- 2009 New Orders - 2
complex geometry systems for composite inspection
Contracts have been signed with two new customers in
China and Malaysia for the supply of
complex geometry squirter inspection systems for composite materials. These
companies are major suppliers of composite parts to Boeing, Airbus and other
aircraft manufacturers. These systems will be the 9th and 10th
systems of this type supplied by USL in recent years.
In common with other
systems of its type, these will perform the following functions simultaneously
in the same scan:
A. Contour
following of complex shapes at high speed.
B. Through
transmission inspection using a logarithmic amplifier.
C. Pulse
echo inspection from both sides using a linear amplifier.
D. Full RF
waveform acquisition.
Double click on the picture to see a video
(This is NORMAL scanning speed, and is not increased to
make it look better!)
Machines with this configuration are currently in operation in UK,
Netherlands and China with further systems in manufacture for UK and
Denmark.
-
2009 Delivery - 3 upgraded systems for inspection of titanium fan blades
A third upgraded immersion system has been
delivered to Rolls Royce for C scan inspection of bonded titanium alloy fan blades.
Previously
two separate inspections were necessary, but using our advanced ultrasonic
capability we are able to combine the two
tests into a single scan. We can carry out C scan inspections using a logarithmic and linear
amplifier at the same time and using the same probe.
In addition to upgrading the ultrasonics and data
acquisition, an additional rotary motion axis has been added, together with
special fixtures to hold and rotate the blades during the inspection.
The systems were originally manufactured by Meccasonics with
entirely analogue control and acquisition - it is now fully digital. A third
system will be upgraded in the near future.
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