The on-line control of Friction Stir Welding processes using ultrasonic test techniques

该项目旨在开发一种具有成本效益的新型无损检测（NDT）技术，用于对船舶、铁路、汽车和航空航天工业焊接铝结构制造中的摩擦焊缝进行过程检测。NDT的发展将基于高频、斜入射角、非线性超声检测（NLUT），它将能够检测焊缝结合区域（即所谓的亲和键）的早期“接头线缺陷”，由于需要检测的缺陷尺寸与焊缝材料结构的信噪比较差，这种缺陷本来就难以检测。如果不能在早期发现连接线缺陷，可能会导致安全关键部件失效，并造成灾难性后果。该项目将使FSW和LFW的全部潜力得到开发，从而使英国工业受益，这在以前由于缺乏商业化的过程中无损检测技术而无法实现。

The Project aims to develop a cost effective and novel Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technique for the in-process examination of Friction Welds used in the fabrication of welded aluminium structures for the marine, rail, automotive and aerospace industries. The NDT development will be based on high frequency, oblique incident angle, Non-Linear Ultrasonic Testing (NLUT) that will have the capability of detecting early stage 'joint line defects' in the bond region (so called kissing bond) of the weld that has been inherently difficult to inspect because of the poor signal to noise ratio at the size of defects requiring detection against the weld material structure. Failure to detect the joint line defects at an early stage can lead to safety critical component failure with catastrophic consequences. The project will benefit UK industry by enabling the full potential of FSW and LFW to be exploited, this not having been previously possible due to the lack of commercial in-process NDT inspection technology.