Societe Nationale Industrielle Et Aerospatiale

Societe Anonyme Dite: Aerospatiale Societe Nationale Industrielle

Michel Floret

Jean-Louis Arnaud

A device for the nondestructive testing of riveted junction sections or the like contains at least one electric type detection probe movable along the junction sections and a memory containing, for each junction section, its specific structure and, for each specific junction section structure, the operational setting to be applied to the probe. A microprocessor uses the contents of the memory for controlling the probe as a function of the specific structure of the junction section being examined.

Device for nondestructive testing of a plurality of junction sections

So as to control parts of any form, such as panels made of a composite material, a control head (10) is used comprising a small bar made of an elastic material, aligned ultrasonic transducers (18) being placed in said control head which functions by reflected light. The small bar bears contact blocks (22,24) which are brought into support on the surface of the part to be controlled, which has the effect of deforming the small bar and orientating each of the transducers perpendicular to the surface. As regards parts having a non-uniform shape, a uniform quality of the control is thus ensured, the same applying for a reduction of the control time. A precise control of the evolution of the structure of parts during production is also rendered possible. Advantageously, the transducers are mounted on the small bar so as to be disassembled, said mounting being effected by means of wedging members, such as screws and metal wire clips.

Ultrasonic control head for parts whose shape evolves during production

The present invention relates to a process and device for the non-destructive examination of riveted joints or the like, particularly for monitoring the fuselage of an aircraft. According to the invention, an eddy current probe is used and two rectangular components of the signal of unbalance from the latter are compared with thresholds predetermined by prior measurements on similar new joints, in order to determine the presence and/or the absence of cracks.

Process and device for the detection of cracks in riveted joints using

The invention relates to a portable device for the non-destructive examination of a surface along a line, by means of at least one detection probe displaced along said line and guided by a guide removably fixed on said surface, wherein said guide has a length such that any portion of said line of comparable length presents a negligible variation in curvature, said probe is mounted in a probe-holder adapted to be displaced by hand and connected to said guide in rigid manner parallel thereto and in loose manner transversely to said guide, and means are provided for indicating, at each instant of a displacement of said probe-holder along said guide, the position of the probe-holder on the latter. The invention is particularly applicable to the verification of the riveted joints of aircraft fuselages.

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Gennevilliers, France

Michel Floret