Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) for Non-Destructive Test/Non-Destructive Inspection/Non-Destructive Evaluation/Non-Destructive Test Evaluation (NDT/NDI

The objective of this proposal is to develop, demonstrate, and field a Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) for field units and depot to utilize in inspecting and/or repairing compo-site rotor blades. The NDI-ATE is to be field portable, provide results in near real time, with an automated assessment capability for field use and a detailed assessment capability for depot use in conjunction with maintenance and repair activities. The NDI-ATE will use Evisive Scan microwave interferometry and other NDI technologies as appropriate to achieve the combined automated and detailed NDI objectives. This will include inspection of the composite material structures and (using commercially available NDI technology) inspection of metallic components. This initiative is to develop, demonstrate, and field an affordable and reliable NDI-ATE device to determine structural health of composite rotor blades. It will demonstrate feasibility (Phase I), develop a functional prototype unit (Phase II) and implement a commercial program to field a fully airworthy system (Phase III).