Page 25 - Research Report 2021 - Institut für Leichtbau und Kunststofftechnik

Key qualification

Non-destructive testing at ILK

“You've designed a beautiful and light part. And you are processes for fibre composites were developing rap-

able to manufacture it too.” the potential customer is idly, a production-accompanying NDT was established

pleased to say. But the question often arises immedi- at the ILK in order to expand the general confidence in
ately: “But how do I know that it is flawless and will last the novel technologies and materials. Since that time,

for long?” This concern is all the more understandable the NDT processes have been continuously developed.
because at the ILK we make highly stressed parts that are Nowadays, the discipline is also experiencing many new

orders of magnitude lighter and the fibre composites that incentives, for example through technical progress in fully
are often used for this purpose are not created until late automated image recognition and evaluation. It has never
in the production process. been easier to apply even complex NDT procedures.

The answer to such scepticism is provided by non-de- The ILK sees itself at the interface between the devel-
structive testing (NDT), which has a long tradition at opment and application of NDT. In addition to the con-

the ILK. The origin of our current capabilities in this field sulting and services offered for the processes available
lies in the 1990s. At that time, when the manufacturing at the ILK (Fig. 01), we are fundamentally researching

Fig. 01 Selected NDT processes and methods at ILK.

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