Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation

Keymaster Technologies, Inc.

United Western Technologies Corporation

David Justin Watson

Larry Stephen Price

Bruce J Kaiser

Robert D Kuhlman

Don Kenning

Lloyd Starks

Dan Schoepflin

Gary Lee Hensley

An apparatus and method in which one or more taggants that are intrinsically located&mdash;or extrinsically placed&mdash;in an article or product, such as carpet. The taggants are detected by x-ray fluorescence analysis to identify or verify the article or its point of manufacture. The taggants are manufactured as part of the article or the taggant is placed into a coating, label, or otherwise embedded within the article for the purpose of later verifying the presence or absence of these elements by x-ray fluorescence, thus determining the unique elemental composition of the taggant within the article.

Methods for identification and verification

Flexible eddy current probes that allow an inspector to interrogate the blade roots or disk slots of different types of blades and disks while using a limited number of probes. The probe includes a rectangular-shaped block assembly, a rectangular-shaped loading platform having a slot therein, and stabilizing slide rods that couple the loading platform to the block assembly. The slide rods are adapted to slide through the block assembly as the block assembly is urged towards the loading platform. The probe further includes a flexible coil within a flexible membrane that produces a magnetic field during the inspection. The flexible coil extends from the block assembly and remains within the device, that is, between the loading platform and the block assembly, when not deployed. When deployed, the flexible coil passes through the slot in the loading platform to allow contact with the surface being inspected. Outriggers within the probe guide the flexible coil onto the surface during deployment.

Eddy current flexible field probe deployed through a loading platform

An eddy current test probe having a flexible sensor assembly for non-destructive testing of conductive parts. The flexible eddy current sensor assembly includes a coil assembly having a drive coil and a receive coil positioned in close proximity to each other to maximize inductive coupling. The drive coil receives an alternating voltage from an alternating voltage source. The receive coil is coupled to a visual display which displays the eddy current signal strength in appropriate units. The coil assembly is formed on a flexible membrane. The flexible membrane allows the coil assembly to contour to the PUT surface. By doing so, surface coupling is not only maintained but maximized between the PUT and the coil assembly which, in turn, improves the induced electromagnetic field. A wear resistant film is formed around the outside of the compliance membrane enclosing the coil assembly. The wear resistant film prevents damage to the coils from the inevitable surface irregularities and abrasive particles found in PUTs. The flexible membrane is layered on a flexible compliance membrane. The compliance membrane provides a degree of stiffness to the flexible membrane for maintaining close surface coupling with the PUT. An electromagnetic shield is optionally formed on the flexible membrane on each side of the coil assembly and underneath the wear resistant film. The electromagnetic shield contains the energy exchange between the PUT and the coil assembly by preventing the electromagnetic field induced in the PUT from spreading out on the PUT. The electromagnetic shield is of particular importance when the sensor assembly approaches a PUT edge because the field tends to distort around PUT edges causing the test probe to saturate and miss a surface flaw or anomaly located near the PUT edge.

Flexible eddy current test probe

Growing community of inventors

Richland, WA, United States of America

David Justin Watson