DEVELOPMENT OF DATA FILE STANDARDS FOR AUTOMATED ULTRASONIC SCANNING SYSTEMS

WE PROPOSE TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT EXISTING AUTOMATED ULTRASONIC SCANNING SYSTEMS WITHIN THE DOD COMMUNITY. THE EMPHASIS WILL BE ON DATA STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL METHODS USED AND WILL INCLUDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DATA FORMAT AND STORAGE MEDIUM. THE INFORMATION WILL BE TABULATED AS TO DATA RECORD FILE FORMAT AND RETRIEVAL, RECORD MANAGEMENT, PRE AND POST DATA PROCESSING AND THE COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM. INFORMATION WILL BE OBTAINED FROM EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS, AEROSPACE MANUFACTURERES AND SUBCONTRACTORS AND MILITARY MAINTENANCE FACILITIES SUCH AS THE NARF'S AND ALC'S. THE DATA GATHERING WILL BE AIDED BY THE EXTENSIVE CONTACTS INDUSTRIAL QUALITY, INC. HAS WITHIN THE NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING (NDT) FIELD. THE DATA WILL BE ANALYZED AND RECOMMENDATIONS MADE FOR SOFTWARE/HARDWARE METHODS TO ALLOW INTERCHANGE OF ULTRASONIC DATA. CONSIDERATION WILL ALSO BE GIVEN TO INTERCHANGE OF OTHER NDT DIGITAL DATA, SUCH AS THAT FROM REAL-TIME RADIOGRAPHY. CAD/CAM FORMATS AND A NEW FEDERAL STANDARD FOR INFORMATION INTERCHANGE ARE AMONG THE CONCEPTS TO BE CONSIDERED. CONCEPTS FOR A PROCUREMENT SPECIFICATION TO ALLOW DATA INTERCHANGE WILL BE DEVELOPED.