GE to open NDT technology solutions centre in the UK
01/10/2015
GE’s Inspection Technologies business is to open a technology solutions centre in the UK, to provide customers with a facility to test GE’s non-destructive testing technologies and solve their specific inspection problems. The new Technical Solutions Centre (TSC), the first in the UK, will be located in Ratby, near Leicester, just 1.5 miles from the Groby manufacturing site of GE Measurement & Control.When fully equipped, the TSC will showcase GE’s radiographic X-ray solutions, including advanced computed tomography (CT) equipment, the advanced computed radiography scanner CRxVision, portable digital detector arrays and the x|cube compact 225 for radioscopic casting inspection. The new centre will be permanently staffed by applications engineers who are experts in various inspection technologies and able to provide advice and help in their application.
“The establishment of a dedicated industrial radiography centre in the UK is part of our strategy to bring new technology close to our customers and help them solve their greatest applications challenges,” said Juan Mario Gomez, General Manager – Radiography. He continued: “As digital radiography and advanced CT technology continue to become more common in industrial production and field environments, we are poised to further help our customers.”
The inspection technology highlight of the new centre will be the phoenix v|tome|x m 300, a compact computed tomography system for scientific research applications, as well as 3D metrology and failure analysis for industrial process control. The v|tome|x m 300 provides detail detectability down to <1 micron and can be used with high-density samples up to 50 kg at
300 kV. It features GE’s extremely high dynamic DXR digital detector array and click&measure|CT fully automated data acquisition and volume processing for fast, easy and productive scanning and reliable CT evaluations. The v|tome|x m 300 is just one example from the range of computed tomography systems available from GE.
The x|cube compact 225 is a versatile X-ray system, offering real-time 2D inspection with the option of 3D computed tomography. It is particularly suitable for the inspection of safety-relevant castings in the aerospace and automotive sectors but can be applied wherever there is a need for fast and effective radiography of castings, composite structures, plastics, ceramics and special alloys. As with CRxVision, x|cube can be supplied with GE’s Flash!Filters™ proprietary image optimisation technology to assist failure detection and increase productivity.
CRxVision is GE’s versatile, table-top computed radiography solution, designed specifically for weld inspection but suitable for a wide range of tasks in aerospace, power generation and general NDT. It offers all the benefits of computed radiography and the wide dynamic range of its imaging plates significantly reduces the need for retakes.
The Technical Solutions Centre will also house field-proven, ultrasonic, eddy current and remote visual inspection hardware for application consultation or rental. GE is a leading manufacturer of NDT portable equipment and recently launched the Mentor series of connected inspection devices that lower the training hurdle, with guided on-device inspection applications and wireless remote collaboration tools.
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