Airbus Helicopters
Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter)
Dual-Robot Ultrasonic Testing of CFRP and other composite aerospace components:
Over 200 different types of helicopter parts are scanned fully automated by two standard industrial robots. The robots are mounted in a gantry with a travel of 6m. Using water coupling, test methods include through-transmission, pulse-echo and phased array with 64 elements. Both robots are achieving an absolute accuracy of better than 0.5 mm over the working envelope of 7 x 2 x 4 m³. Continuous operation began in 2004, including autonomous night shifts on a regular basis.
MTU Aero Engines
MTU Aero Engines in Munich, Department for non-destructive testing
Charon XRD (X-ray diffractometer):
X-ray diffraction enables the measurement of residual stresses in near-surface areas of metallic workpieces. The diffractometer "Charon XRD" was created in collaboration with General Electric Inspection Technologies. It is used for inspection of components with a high variety of size and geometrical complexity. The facility consists of two 6-axis robots. The first robot carries the x-ray generator and the second robot carries the x-ray detector. The inspection method requires high precision in positioning the robots relative to each other and relative to the specimen. This is realized by a supplemental measurement system based on our patent, which achieves a resolution of 1/1000th mm and 1/10000th degree.
PDF: A New Twin Robot X-ray Diffractometer for Surface Analysis of Complex Aircraft Components
Airbus Helicopters
Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter)
Air coupled ultrasonic testing station for helicopter tail booms:
The automated air coupled ultrasonic inspection of tubular CRFP sandwich structures is performed by a 10-DOF manipulator specifically designed for the task. It is possible to scan tubes with a diameter between 300 mm and 1100 mm at a velocity of up to 500 mm/s. Since 2012 this facility is integrated in the series production and inspects all tail booms of the Airbus Helicopters model EC145 T2.
PDF: Automated Air-Coupled Ultrasonic Technique for the Inspection of the EC145 Tail Boom
