BINDT-approved composites inspection training courses
03/08/2011
TEST NDT recently completed a series of new BINDT-approved courses for specialised composite structure inspection and bond testing training to meet new EASA aircraft inspection requirements.The training programmes were conducted at the British Airways Heathrow facility and the Fly-Be Exeter Airport facilities.
This course was generated to satisfy a relatively recent requirement from EASA for specialised training and additional supplementary qualification examinations to cover special techniques, such as bond testing, ‘in the spirit of EN 4179’.
This BINDT-approved course was developed to familiarise the inspectors with composites and bond testing theory and concepts, along with the operating principles of various types of bond testing equipment.
The training includes a comprehensive session on composite manufacturing and bonding technologies and a section on calibration specimen manufacture.
The training also features theory on the major aspects of inspecting composites, such as carbon fibre composite (CFC) and glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), and also covers bonded structures, including metal-metal, metal-honeycomb, CFC-CFC and CFC-honeycomb manufacture, defect types and inspection principles.The inspection techniques covered include conventional ultrasonic inspection of composites using pulse echo and through-transmission techniques, along with other more specialised bond testing techniques, including percussion testing, airborne low-frequency ultrasound, mechanical impedance analysis (MIA), ultrasonic resonance testing and pitch-catch testing using pulsed and swept Lamb waves.
The course author and presenter is Richard Harrison, who has over 32 years of aircraft composite NDT experience.
The instruments used for the training include the Woodpecker (percussion tester), NDT Systems Curlin Air (airborne ultrasound), NDT Systems Bondascope 3100 (MIA, resonance and pitch-catch) and the Olympus NDT Bondmaster (MIA, resonance and pitch-catch).
This course is approved by BINDT and is available as a scheduled course at the TEST NDT International facility in Preston, or at customers’ facilities throughout the world.
The course has been repeated at the British Airways Heathrow facility several times and was also opened up to non-BA personnel, including attendees from ATC Lasham, Kuwait Airlines and Fly-Be Airlines, to ensure that all NDT personnel are fully trained in all instruments and applications currently used to support flight and maintenance operations.
This training course is the latest in a series of specialised training courses developed by TEST NDT to assist airline operators in implementing new inspection requirements.
Based in Preston, UK, TEST NDT specialises in NDT training for the aircraft industry sector applications.
www.testndt.com
