Non-Destructive Inspection for Repaired Integrally Bladed Disk Airfoils

The US Air Force seeks an innovative nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technique to assess the integrity and microstructure state of integrally bladed disk (IBD) airfoils after repairs. To address this critical need, X-wave Innovations, Inc. (XII) is developing an innovative Quantitative Acoustic Microscopy (QAM) technology, which is based on XII-developed Time-Resolved Acoustic Microscopy (TR-AM). The QAM is capable of not only imaging the surface and internal defects/damage in metallic components with high spatial resolutions, but also providing quantitative assessment of material mechanical properties (e.g., elastic modulus) and microstructures (e.g., grain size). In Phase I, XII successfully prototyped a QAM system and demonstrated the feasibility of this technology. For the Phase II program, XII will focus on refining the prototype system design and development with improved hardware and software. For the Phase III program, XII will focus on commercialize the developed QAM technology for broad military and commercial applications.