What Are Aerospace Testing Companies?

Aerospace testing is described as the evaluation of aircrafts and certifying whether they are safe for flying and comply with the required aircraft standards. An Aerospace testing firm offers this kind of service to aircraft or airbus manufacturers.

Services Offered By Aerospace Testing Companies

Most of the approaches used in aerospace testing are described as non-destructive and involve a thorough inspection of an aircraft’s inside as well as the outside. Some of the popular approaches used by Aerospace Testing Firms to determine whether an aircraft or air craft components are fit for use include:

1)    Ultrasonic Testing and Immersion

This is a technique in aerospace testing that helps discover flaws on the inside and outside of alloys or composite materials. This method uses sophisticated equipment that can detect flaws that are as tiny as .002 inches on the alloy surface.

2)    Fluorescent Penetrant Test

This test is ideally used on ferrous or non-ferrous alloys to bring out flaws hidden on the surface. The testing technique uses special fluorescent dyes which are applied on the surface of the alloy; the alloy is then placed under black ultra-violet light. Materials tested by this method include aircraft castings, extrusions, welds, brazes or castings.

3)    Eddy Current Test

Aerospace testing companies also make use of eddy current to locate flaws that may be present on the jet engine blade or on the shrouds of Boeing engines. In addition to the engine blades, the eddy currents can be used to test other rotor components of the aircraft like the seals, discs, hubs and the shafts.

4)    Magnetic Particle Examination

The magnetic particle inspection test is a little more likes the fluorescent penetrant test. It is ideal for testing ferrous metal alloys as well; the only difference is the fact that it can discover both surface and sub-surface defects on the alloy. The technique uses electromagnets which create a north and south pole on the alloy being tested. Fine iron particles, with fluorescent properties are then introduced on the alloy surface and the entire set up is illuminated in black ultra-violet light. This will reveal flaws on the alloy which will appear as finely defined regions.

5)    Gantry System

The Gantry System is a sophisticated piece of equipment in aerospace testing that is used to test composite materials used in aircraft construction. The set up uses both immersion and squirter through transmissions techniques to test the sophisticated components of an aircraft.

Other Aerospace Testing Services

Besides testing of aircraft bodies and its components, aerospace testing companies also help in research and development of new aircrafts with unique and modern specifications. They also offer alkaline and cleaning services for alloys and aircraft components after conducting thorough testing.

In future, aerospace testing is expected to advance and use more sophisticated approaches in testing aircraft components. Some of the new testing methods expected include phased array tests, testing using infrared and thermal capabilities, and safer X-ray technology to vet the standards of aircrafts constructed. The fluorescent dies used in the Penetrant test will also be more advanced.