SwRI Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE): innovative ways to improve safety, refine techniques, and devise new methods for materials, components and environments

For more than 40 years, engineering specialists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have investigated and developed innovative ways to improve safety and devise new methods for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of:

  • Materials

  • Components

  • Environments

To solve special problems for clients and sponsoring agencies, SwRI engineers and scientists explore nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods such as:

General NDE Methods

Ultrasonics

  • Conventional ultrasonics

  • Magnetically induced velocity-change (MIVC) techniques

  • Ultrasonic imaging

  • Guided waves

Electromagnetics

  • Conventional eddy current

  • Remote field eddy current

  • Pulsed eddy current

  • Electric current perturbation

  • Computer modeling

  • Inspection reliability characterization

  • Quantitative characterization of NDE system performance

  • Probability of detection

  • Specialized procedure development

  • Barkhausen noise techniques

  • Nonlinear harmonics

  • Permeability measurements
      image of a close-up view of a 16 ?nbsp;16 element array with details of individual coil pairs
     

    A flexible pipe inspection array was designed to map a 150-mm square area of a corroded surface. This image shows a close-up view of a 16 × 16 element array with details of individual coil pairs.

Magnetostrictive Sensor-Based Guided Waves

  • Torsional waves for pipes and tubes

  • Horizontally polarized shear waves for plates

  • Longitudinal waves for bridge cables

  • Probes for pipelines, bridge cables, heat exchangers and plates

Specialized NDE Systems

Specialized systems developed and used by SwRI for nondestructive evaluation include:

  • Enhanced data acquisition system (EDAS®)

  • Magnetostrictive sensor (MsS and MsSR®)

  • Autogrid system

  • Graphitic corrosion detection

  • Cladding thickness measurement

  • Remote-field eddy current

Structure Evaluation

SwRI has extensive experience in nondestructive evaluation of a wide variety of structures including:

  • Pipelines

  • Heat exchangers

  • Electric transmission towers

  • Aircraft

  • Spacecraft

  • Nuclear power plants

  • Reactor pressure vessels

  • Gas turbines

  • Anchor rods

  • Piping welds

  • Bridges

  • Bolts

Quantitative Characterization of NDE System Performance

  • Flaw specimen design and fabrication

  • Procedure development and evaluation

  • Inspection reliability characterization

  • Computer-based simulation

  • Training

For more information about nondestructive evaluation (NDE) capabilities at SwRI or how you can contract with SwRI, please contact Glenn Light, Ph.D., at glight@swri.org or (210) 522-2218.


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Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) is an independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with 12 technical divisions using multidisciplinary approaches to problem solving. The Institute occupies more than 1,200 acres and provides nearly two million square feet of laboratories, test facilities, workshops, and offices for more than 3,300 employees who perform contract work for industry and government clients.