Dry-coupled ultrasound phased array inspection of as-built complex geometry metal additive manufactured components

Growing demand for smart and flexible factories, producing high-value components cost-effectively has driven the development of large-scale metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes such as Wire+Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM). To match the strengths of metal AM, a novel high-temperature dry-coupled ultrasound roller-probe was developed to facilitate quality assurance, deployed in-process. In this work, the authors present novel work and research from the field of an automated dry-coupled ultrasound in-process NDE. During the experiments, a titanium complex-shaped WAAM, featuring characteristic geometries and a range of flat bottom holes in critical locations drives the development of an NDE strategy deployable on real as-built WAAM geometries. The outcome of this work demonstrates a novel knowledge applicable to path planning strategy for the best ultrasound wave propagation into critical locations within a specimen along with further enhancements applied to the existing robotic NDE system.