NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION

Nondestructive evaluation NDE must be incorporated into every phase of the design-production-service cycle, including the screening and qualification of materials for new design criteria, in order to design materials to their limits to satisfy the ever-increasing demands of sophisticated military systems. Even in the presence of adequate technology, the key to NDE implementation and maximum hardware reliability is the proper application of suitable specifications. Solving NDE problems requires selecting test parameters, designing tooling, defining acceptance levels and using more than one technique for evaluation. Automatic data processing equipment must be used to attain quantitative capabilities through rapid feedback of data for process control, utilization of all data, comparison with prior data for early detection of trends and to evaluate operational changes. Among areas recommended for further study were failure mechanism, data processing, lasers, holography, acoustic propagation, and acoustic emission. A greater number of NDE professionals and technicians is needed and could be produced through increased university and other technical training. The establishment of national NDE research and application centers was recommended.