Generally, the job is focused on experimental activities, measurement, optimization work, and partially programming work related to ultrasonic testing (UT) and/or phased array UT (PAUT). As a non-destructive testing (NDT) method, ultrasonic testing uses high-frequency sound propagation (usually > 500 kHz), a set of emitters and receivers, and a liquid couplant (such as water or a specialized liquid) to detect and characterize subsurface structural defects in metallic and/or composite products.
Research and development activities are focused on automated ultrasonic immersion systems for the testing of shaped composite structures for the aerospace industry, metal rings, spot welds, and similar materials. The system consists of a robotic system or Cartesian manipulator, an ultrasonic system with an appropriately designed probe head, and data acquisition (DAQ), display, and analytical software.
The development can be divided into three main topics:
- Measurement and inspection of composite or metal structures,
- Improvement and optimization of currently developed technologies, and
- Programming new software functions.
Measurement and inspection of appropriate structures includes inspecting the material using several ultrasonic techniques and different types of probes, as well as collecting, comparing, and evaluating area scans.
Improvements to system components include optimizing water circuits, 3D-printed heads, extenders, mirrors, holders, robot trajectories, and end effectors, etc.
Programming new software functions in the National Instruments LabVIEW development environment (or partially in Python) includes statistical functions, image processing functions, result measurement features, record display, and Total Focusing Method (TFM) reconstruction, etc.
Based on the interest and background of the intern, one or more directions can be the focus of the internship.
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