Large Area Composite Inspection System

Abstract

The Large Area Composite Inspection System (LACIS) successfully proved that Laser Ultrasonic Testing (UT) will meet the future needs of both Air Logistics Centers (ALC's) and aerospace contractors. Many significant advances in laser ultrasonic technology were demonstrated with the prototype system. Highlights of the program accomplishments are: large area complex composite structures were tested with Laser UT for the first time; rapid and accurate optical scanning was achieved; improved defect detection and signal-to-noise ratio was accomplished; and, advanced data analysis capabilities were demonstrated. Laser UT reduced the capital investment and lowers the labor cost of testing composite structures. The LACIS program conclusively demonstrated the superiority of Laser UT for testing large complex aerospace composite materials. Laser UT will be an important manufacturing and in-service method for Quality Assurance of next generation of advanced aircraft.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA353169

Entities

People

  • Thomas E. Drake

Organizations

  • Lockheed Martin

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Composite Materials
  • Computer Programming
  • Computers
  • Detection
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Laminates
  • Laser Beams
  • Lasers
  • Manufacturing
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Testing
  • Measurement
  • Operating Systems
  • Optics

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Metallurgy
  • Reinforced Composite Materials
  • Software Engineering

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Space