Curlin Air TR

Material: Rigid foam panels and foam core laminates that are either cast or molded.

Application: Detecting splits, cavities, delaminations, foreign inclusions and major density deviations Application: Detecting splits, cavities, delaminations, foreign inclusions and major density deviations

Customers: Foam manufacturers and end-users Customers: Foam manufacturers and end-users

Industries: Construction/Architectural Aerospace, Furniture, Marine/Shipbuilding, Door Manufacturers, Military, Refrigeration, and Transportation (Truck/Rail) Industries: Construction/Architectural Aerospace, Furniture, Marine/Shipbuilding, Door Manufacturers, Military, Refrigeration, and Transportation (Truck/Rail)

Products: Plate, Sheet, Tubes, Bonded Laminates/Panels, Foam Core Doors, Foam-Core Refrigeration Panels/Enclosures, Structural Shapes, Aerospace Panels (FRP or Graphite Composite Face Sheets) Products: Plate, Sheet, Tubes, Bonded Laminates/Panels, Foam Core Doors, Foam-Core Refrigeration Panels/Enclosures, Structural Shapes, Aerospace Panels (FRP or Graphite Composite Face Sheets)

General: Conventional ultrasonic flaw detectors cannot penetrate these highly attenuative foams and, furthermore, manufacturers/end-users usually require non-contact scanning and no liquid couplants. CURLIN-AIR readily penetrates structural urethane foams and features non-contact, air-coupled scanning. Splits, gas cavities, delaminating, many foreign inclusions and major density deviations are readily detectable. Urethane foam panels were the driving force behind the development of CURLIN-AIR and still remains one of its best applications. General: Conventional ultrasonic flaw detectors cannot penetrate these highly attenuative foams and, furthermore, manufacturers/end-users usually require non-contact scanning and no liquid couplants. CURLIN-AIR readily penetrates structural urethane foams and features non-contact, air-coupled scanning. Splits, gas cavities, delaminating, many foreign inclusions and major density deviations are readily detectable. Urethane foam panels were the driving force behind the development of CURLIN-AIR and still remains one of its best applications.

Penetrating Power: Very thick sections of urethane foams can be penetrated (and, thus, inspected for flaws). For example, a 9" thick section was penetrated using a gain level of only 73 dB (near full-scale signal). Sectional thickness approaching 24" may be inspectable (depending upon material properties). Penetrating Power: Very thick sections of urethane foams can be penetrated (and, thus, inspected for flaws). For example, a 9" thick section was penetrated using a gain level of only 73 dB (near full-scale signal). Sectional thickness approaching 24" may be inspectable (depending upon material properties).

Material: Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) composites manufactured by laminate lay-up, chopped lay-up or filament wound

Application: Detection of delaminations, foreign inclusions and major deviations in fiber-resin ratioApplication: Detection of delaminations, foreign inclusions and major deviations in fiber-resin ratio

Customers: Fiberglass manufacturers and end-usersCustomers: Fiberglass manufacturers and end-users

Industries: Petro-chem, Aerospace, Transportation, Marine/Shipbuilding, Chemical, Constructions/ Architectural, Electronic, Mining, Furniture, Military and OthersIndustries: Petro-chem, Aerospace, Transportation, Marine/Shipbuilding, Chemical, Constructions/ Architectural, Electronic, Mining, Furniture, Military and Others

Products: Tanks, Pressure Vessels, Honeycomb Panels, Auto/Truck/Railcar Panels, Electronic Enclosures, Beams, Tubes, Radomes, Sonar Domes, Antennas, Tubs/Spas/Shower Stalls, Circuit-board Stock, Satellite Dishes, Covers, Ducts, Scrubber Towers, Rocket Motor Cases, Structural DomesProducts: Tanks, Pressure Vessels, Honeycomb Panels, Auto/Truck/Railcar Panels, Electronic Enclosures, Beams, Tubes, Radomes, Sonar Domes, Antennas, Tubs/Spas/Shower Stalls, Circuit-board Stock, Satellite Dishes, Covers, Ducts, Scrubber Towers, Rocket Motor Cases, Structural Domes

General: Unlike standard flaw detectors, CURLIN-AIR can readily penetrate even thick sections of FRP and detect delaminations, certain foreign inclusions and major resin-rich or resin-starved conditions. The background noise is low compared to standard flaw detectors. This performance combined with CURLIN-AIR's non-contact airborne ultrasonic beam feature, opens up many new opportunities for the inspection of FRP structures.General: Unlike standard flaw detectors, CURLIN-AIR can readily penetrate even thick sections of FRP and detect delaminations, certain foreign inclusions and major resin-rich or resin-starved conditions. The background noise is low compared to standard flaw detectors. This performance combined with CURLIN-AIR's non-contact airborne ultrasonic beam feature, opens up many new opportunities for the inspection of FRP structures.

FRP Thickness (Inches)	dB Gain Required To Produce A Signal Amplitude of 80% FSH
1	77
2	81
3	85

FRP Thickness (Inches)	Gain (dB)	Amplitude UnFlawed Area	Amplitude Delamination
2	81	80% FSH	2% FSH
3	85	80% FSH	2% FSH

Airborne, Non-Contact Inspection Of Various Construction Materials Such As Drywall, Particle Board, etc.

Material: Drywall, Plywood, Particleboard, Flakeboard, Fiber-Reinforced Cement and Structural Urethane Foam

Application: Detection of delaminations, splits, and blowsApplication: Detection of delaminations, splits, and blows

Customers: Manufacturers and end-usersCustomers: Manufacturers and end-users

Products: Structural/Decorative Members, Panels and DoorsProducts: Structural/Decorative Members, Panels and Doors

General: The construction products listed above are typically impractical to inspect with conventional ultrasonic flaw detectors because such materials are extremely attenuative and some can possess significant (although acceptable) material property variations. Also, manufacturers and end-users of these products typically desire non-contact testing and no use of liquid coupling. The Curlin-AIR can penetrate these materials and detect the mentioned flaws using non-contact, airborne ultrasonic testing. Plywood can cause a noisy background for the ultrasonic signal, but larger-type blows are typically quite detectable.

General: CURLIN-AIR has shown applicability for detecting delaminations in tires. Its major attractive feature is non-contact, airborne scanning. Testing can be portable or by using a fixture that rotates the tire. General: CURLIN-AIR has shown applicability for detecting delaminations in tires. Its major attractive feature is non-contact, airborne scanning. Testing can be portable or by using a fixture that rotates the tire.

Test Setup: CURLIN-AIR Thru-transmission mode with Model ATI Probes Test Setup: CURLIN-AIR Thru-transmission mode with Model ATI Probes

Material: Bonded Honeycomb Structures Composed of a Wide Variety of Different Metallic and Non-metallic Materials (Aluminum, Stainless, Nomex, Phenolic, Graphite/FRP Composites, Structural Paper, Balsa, Foam, Kevlar, Etc.)

Application: Detecting delaminations, voids, fractured core, crushed core, impact damage

Industries: Aerospace, Aircraft, Airlines (In-Service Aircraft) Helicopters (Including Rotor Blades), Military, NASA, Automotive/Truck, Marine (Shipbuilding/Boatbuilding), Furniture, Construction Flooring, Cabinetry, Decks, Tabletops, Acoustical Paneling), Radomes/Antennas, Gangplanks (Industrial and Marine), Electronic Enclosures, Cargo Holders (Auto).

General: Aerospace honeycomb bonded structures have been effectively inspected for many years using standard ultrasonic flaw detectors and bond testers. Both single-surface and thru-transmission modes are in common use. The use of contact inspection with liquid film coupling or automatic scanning with water squirter coupling is commonplace.

Some bond testers feature "dry" contact testing. Single-side test methods (bond tester and ultrasonic echo-mode setups) usually need to separately scan both surfaces to detect face sheet delaminations/voids and frequently cannot detect internal crushed/fractured core or bond lines at internal septums in multi-layered honeycomb core structures. Furthermore, some of the nonmetallic core material or heavier face sheets hinder conventional single-sided testing.

The use of couplants and contact are generally not desired and time-consuming. In contrast, CURLIN-AIR features simplistic non-contact, airborne ultrasonic thru-transmission testing. While access is required to both sides of the honeycomb structures, all of the flaws mentioned delaminations, voids, impact damage and crushed/fractured core) are detectable - even in thick multi-layered non-metallic honeycomb structures and perforated face sheet noise abatement honeycomb structures (e.g. jet engine nacelles).

Material: Graphite Fiber in Polymeric (Plastic) Matrix/Laminate Lay-ups or Filament Wound Structures

Application: Detection of Delarninations and Impact DamageApplication: Detection of Delarninations and Impact Damage

Customers: Manufacturers and end-usersCustomers: Manufacturers and end-users

Industries: Aerospace, Aircraft (Fixed Wing And Rotary/Helicopters), Airline (In-service Inspection), Military, Construction, Infrastructure (Bridges), Petrochemical, MarineIndustries: Aerospace, Aircraft (Fixed Wing And Rotary/Helicopters), Airline (In-service Inspection), Military, Construction, Infrastructure (Bridges), Petrochemical, Marine

Products: Sheets, Tubes, Cases, Helicopter Rotor Blades, Fuselage, Tail And Wing Sections For Aircraft, Panels With Graphite Composite Face Sheets Having Foam Cores or Honeycomb CoresProducts: Sheets, Tubes, Cases, Helicopter Rotor Blades, Fuselage, Tail And Wing Sections For Aircraft, Panels With Graphite Composite Face Sheets Having Foam Cores or Honeycomb Cores

General: Conventional ultrasonic pulse-echo, thru-transmission flaw detectors (manual or auto-scanning) and ultrasonic bond testers are the major NDT approaches for inspecting these "advanced" graphite composite structures. The ultrasonic flaw detectors require liquid couplant (either liquid film contact or auto-scan water squirter coupling), while the bond testers require contact with either dry or liquid film coupling. CURLIN-AIR features non-contact, air-coupled ultrasonic inspection for delaminations, disbonds or in-service impact damage, provided there is access to both surfaces for use of the thru-transmission mode of testing. CURLIN-AIR can penetrate even thick sections of graphite or foam cored composites and is capable of detecting smaller-sized flaws.