Vibrant Receives European Patent for Resonance Inspection of
Manufactured Parts with Witness Coupon Testing
September 1, 2022 – Albuquerque, N.M. – Vibrant has received a European patent for resonance inspection of manufactured parts with witness coupon testing (Patent GR2592706). This patent is part of a family of patents describing ways to use Process Compensated Resonance Testing (PCRT) to inspect additive manufactured parts produced with witness coupons. The patent corresponds with the U.S. patent for the same process, granted in October 2021 (U.S. Patent 11143630).
Produced alongside additive manufactured end-use components, witness coupons are sacrificial proxy parts that traditionally receive destructive testing to demonstrate material properties that are then extrapolated to the end-use components. PCRT can support witness coupon programs by providing cost-effective rapid quantitative or qualitative feedback about the material properties faster than destructive testing of the component itself.
“Most of our additive manufacturing customers have witness coupon requirements and programs,” says Vibrant Vice President of Technology Leanne Jauriqui. “PCRT offers opportunities for faster non-destructive feedback than mechanical testing, making 100% inspection affordable and attractive. Approaches invented here also provide a roadmap to using PCRT-inverted properties of witness coupons to make better PCRT sorting modules for end-use parts, including those that may not be produced in high-volume.”
PCRT helps determine material property values from witness coupons, providing more accurate input to model simulations or predicted resonance modes of end-use components.
Material properties or other outputs of PCRT inspection of witness coupons can be used to hone or modify end-use component inspection criteria to reduce the impact of build-build variation, and allow for more cost-saving, faster critical inspection.
About Vibrant
Vibrant’s whole part inspection approach is changing how aerospace, automotive, and power generation markets conduct nondestructive testing (NDT). Our revolutionary Process Compensated Resonance Testing (PCRT) measures resonance frequencies through whole parts, allowing customers worldwide to test every part and significantly increase final product quality. PCRT applications range from quality assurance and process capability assessment for OEMs to in-service structural assessment and life monitoring for MRO organizations. With facilities in the U.S. and Europe, Vibrant is AS9100 Rev C and ISO 9001:2008 certified.
For more information visit www.vibrantndt.com.
Array of Additive Manufactured Witness Coupons on build plate.
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