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.
LATEST NEWS JULY 2010
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.
Hot on the heels of upgrade of the first system
ever manufactured by USL - see the item below - we have received an order for
a similar upgrade to the second acoustic microscope system made by USL
in 1989. Like the first system, this one has had several different owners
through its life and now resides in Seville, Spain. The upgrade will include a
new computer, data acquisition and software together with mechanical
modifications to the Z axis.
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.
| 
