VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Jnana Sangama, Belgaum-590014, Karnataka

A Seminar Report on

ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUES FOR HIDDEN CORROSION DETECTION

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY
In

MACHINE DESIGN
By

THEJAS N
Under the guidance of

Dr.M.Venkatarama Reddy
Professor and Head, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

BIT, Bangalore

Department of Mechanical Engineering

BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

K R Road, V V Puram, Bangalore

(2009-2010)

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection

BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

(K R Road, V V Puram, Bangalore)

Department of Mechanical Engineering (M-Tech)

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the seminar topic entitled ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUES FOR HIDDEN CORROSION DETECTION is a bonafied work carried out by THEJAS N bearing university seal number 1BI09MMD17 of 1st semester M.Tech in Machine Design at Bangalore Institute of Technology, Bangalore in partial fulfillment of the Master of Technology in Mechanical engineering (Machine Design) of Visveswaraiah Technological University, Belgaum, during the year Sep2009-Jan2010. It is certified that all correction and deposited in the department library. The seminar report has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirement in respect of seminar work prescribed for the Master of Technology Degree.

PLACE DATE

: : SIGNATURE OF STUDENT

SIGNATURE OF GUIDE

SIGNATURE OF H.O.D

SIGNATURE OF PRINCIPAL

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
A great deal of time and effort has gone into successful execution of my seminar and preparation of this seminar report. I would like to acknowledge the contribution from various sources and people who have been instrumental in the success of this endeavor. I wish to place on record my heart-felt thanks to Dr.M.Venkata Rama Reddy, Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, BIT for his ever inspiring support and encouragement. I sincerely express my gratitude to All Staff, Machine Design, and BIT for their kind co-operation in guiding me in the seminar.

Thanks & Regards, (THEJAS N)

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 2. HIDDEN CORROSION 3. TYPES OF CORROSION
3.1 Galvanic Corrosion 3.2 Pitting Corrosion 3.3 Erosion-Corrosion 3.4 Crevice Corrosion 3.5 Intergranular Corrosion

4. POTENTIAL DAMAGE AREAS OF CORROSION 5. ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUES

5.1 BASIC PRINCIPLE OF ULTRASONIC INSPECTION 5.2 MODES OF SOUND WAVE PROPAGATION 5.3 GUIDED ULTRASONIC WAVES FOR CORROSION DETECTION

CASE STUDY
6. CORROSION DETECTION IN AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES USING GUIDED LAMB WAVES
6.1 WHY GUIDED LAMB WAVES 6.2 OBJECTIVES 6.3 CONVENTIONAL ULTRASONIC INSPECTION 6.4 GUIDED WAVE INSPECTION 6.5 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

7. APPLICATIONS OF ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUES 8. REFERENCES

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection

1. INTRODUCTION
Corrosion is one of the serious problem affecting air force and other aviation industries. It affects the aircraft on its wings, surface, between joints and fasteners. The presences of corrosion underneath the paints of surface and between joints are not easy to be detected. The unnoticed presence of corrosion may cause the aircraft to crash leading to human and money loses. To detect the corrosion present on the metal surface, various methods and tests are used. These tests conducted should be such that it does not destroy or disassemble the plane to parts or damage its surface. Hence for the further use of the plane, Non-destructive tests (NDT) are carried out. Non-destructive testing as the name suggests is testing procedure without any damage to the part being tested. The various non-destructive testing methods used are: 1) Visual inspection 2) X-ray inspection 3) Die (liquid) penetration inspection 4) Magnetic particle inspection 5) Eddy current inspection 6) Ultrasonic inspection Ultrasonic inspection is conventionally used for corrosion detection in aircraft wings. But the conventional inspection method carries with it certain defects like: (i) It scans perpendicular to the surface and hence rate of scanning (from point to point) is less and hence highly time consuming. (ii) Conventional method is not capable of detecting disbonds between layers and cracks at fastener holes. These defects are over come by a newly developed inspection method using guided ultrasonic waves.

Guided waves demonstrate an attractive solution where conventional ultrasonic inspection techniques are less sensitive to defects such as corrosion/disbonds in thin multilayered wing skin structures and hidden exfoliation under wing skin fasteners. Moreover, with their multimode character, selection of guided wave modes can be optimized for detection of particular types of defects. Mode optimization can be done by selecting modes with maximum group velocities (minimum dispersion), or analysis of their wave mode structures (particle displacements, stresses and power distributions). Guided Lamb modes have been used for long range/large area corrosion detection and the evaluation of adhesively bonded structures. Ultrasonic guided waves are promising but require procedure development to ensure high sensitivity and reliable transducer coupling and to provide a mechanism to transport the probe(s) over the area to be scanned. This paper describes some practical inspection setups and

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection procedures based on guided wave modes for corrosion damage detection in single and multilayered wing skin structures and exfoliation detection immediately adjacent to fasteners in aircraft wing skin. It describes the results of their application to detection of corrosion in simulated and real components of aircraft wing skin. Using a tone burst system, the wave modes are selected, excited and tested in pulse echo and pitch catch setups. Launch angles were obtained from the calculated dispersion curves. Theoretical group velocities were compared to tested group velocities to confirm the excited modes at frequency thickness product and launch angle. The simulated corrosion in single and multilayered wing skin structures and exfoliation located under several rivets was successfully detected. Some guided Lamb modes proved to be more sensitive to corrosion type defects and produced better results

2. HIDDEN CORROSION
Hidden corrosion is a type of electro-chemical material degradation that is not readily or directly detectable visually or by any other surface measurement technique. It can often be detected and quantified in terms of reduction of wall thickness or structural discontinuities such as pits, flaws and voids. When attempting to detect material degradation due to electrochemical processes, the corrosion products (e.g., iron oxides, aluminum oxides, etc.) must be identified so that an appropriate energy source can be selected for detection.

3. TYPES OF CORROSION
Corrosion in aircraft may appear in various forms depending on the alloy, product form, corrodent, general conditions and residual stress. This complicates the metrics of corrosion and therefore also complicates the quantification of detection reliability. Some corrosion types are listed below 3.1 Galvanic Corrosion Galvanic corrosion is a very common form of corrosion that results from contact between dissimilar metals. A difference in the electrode potential of the two metals and the difference in the surface area of the dissimilar metals drive the process. Galvanic corrosion is responsible for much of the corrosion in aircraft. 3.2 Pitting Corrosion

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection Pitting is another form of corrosion that results when the anodic site in the electrochemical reaction corresponds to a local micro structural discontinuity, such as an inclusion, grain boundary, or even a scratch, on an otherwise large cathodic surface area. 3.3 Erosion-Corrosion Erosion-corrosion, as its name suggests, results from the actions of corrosion and erosion in the presence of a moving corrosive fluid, causing accelerated loss of the metal.

3.4 Crevice Corrosion Crevice corrosion is a form of localized corrosion that occurs near an area of a metal surface adjacent to another metal that is sheltered from full exposure to the environment. The reaction between the oxygen in the crevice and the rest of the metal causes a gradient in the oxygen concentration, and thus a difference in electrode potentials and a flow of current. 3.5 Intergranular Corrosion Intergranular corrosion occurs at or adjacent to the grain boundaries of a metal or alloy. The actual mechanism of the corrosion varies with metal system. This attack at the grain boundaries can cause entire metal grains to become dislodged. Leakage of corrosive fluids, loss of effective cross sectional area, and mechanical failure can result.

4. POTENTIAL DAMAGE AREAS OF CORROSION

The severity of corrosion attacks varies with aircraft type, design techniques, operating environments, operators and maintenance programs. Common areas of corrosion problems are listed below 1. Floor and structure in the vicinity of lavatory systems and galleries, 2. Structures surrounding doors, particularly landing gear doors, 3. wing skin adjacent to counter fastener heads, 4. Wing to body joint fittings, 5. Fuselage lower structure (bilge area), 6. Areas having environmentally unstable materials, 7. Structures susceptible to protective treatment damage during installation and repair, abrasion, fretting and erosion.

5. ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUES

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection 5.1 BASIC PRINCIPLE OF ULTRASONIC INSPECTION

Fig1. Ultrasonic testing equipment Ultrasonic frequency sound Testing (UT) uses high energy to conduct

examinations and make measurements. Ultrasonic inspection can be used for flaw detection/evaluation, dimensional measurements, material characterization, and more. A typical UT inspection system consists of several functional units, such as the pulser/receiver, transducer, and display devices. A pulser/receiver is an electronic device that can produce high voltage electrical pulses. Driven by the pulser, the transducer generates high frequency ultrasonic energy. The sound energy is introduced and propagates through the materials in the form of waves. When there is a discontinuity (such as a crack) in the wave path, part of the energy will be reflected back from the flaw surface. The reflected wave signal is transformed into an electrical signal by the transducer and is displayed on a screen.

5.2 MODES OF SOUND WAVE PROPAGATION In air, sound travels by the compression and rarefaction of air molecules in the direction of travel. However, in solids, molecules can support vibrations in other directions, hence, a number of different types of sound waves are possible. Waves can be characterized in space by oscillatory patterns that are capable of maintaining their shape and propagating in a stable manner. The propagation of waves is often described in terms of what are called wave modes. The different types of modes of sound wave propagation in solids are listed below 5.2.1 Longitudinal waves and shear waves

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection

Fig2. Longitudinal and shear waves In longitudinal waves, the oscillations occur in the longitudinal direction or the direction of wave propagation. Since compressional and dilational forces are active in these waves, they are also called pressure or compressional waves. They are also sometimes called density waves because their particle density fluctuates as they move. Compression waves can be generated in liquids, as well as solids because the energy travels through the atomic structure by a series of compressions and expansion (rarefaction) movements.

In the transverse or shear wave, the particles oscillate at a right angle or transverse to the direction of propagation. Shear waves require an acoustically solid material for effective propagation, and therefore, are not effectively propagated in materials such as liquids or gasses. Shear waves are relatively weak when compared to longitudinal waves. In fact, shear waves are usually generated in materials using some of the energy from longitudinal waves. 5.2.2 Surface waves

Fig3. Surface waves Surface (or Rayleigh) waves travel the surface of a relatively thick solid material penetrating to a depth of one wavelength. Surface waves combine both a longitudinal and transverse motion to create an elliptic orbit motion as shown in the image and animation below. The major axis of the ellipse is perpendicular to the surface of the solid. As the depth of an individual atom from the surface increases the width of its elliptical motion decreases. Surface

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection waves are generated when a longitudinal wave intersects a surface near the second critical angle and they travel at a velocity between .87 and .95 of a shear wave. Rayleigh waves are useful because they are very sensitive to surface defects (and other surface features) and they follow the surface around curves. Because of this, Rayleigh waves can be used to inspect areas that other waves might have difficulty reaching.

5.2.3 Plate waves (or lamb waves) Fig4. Lamb wave Plate waves are similar to surface waves except they can only be generated in materials a few wavelengths thick. waves are the Lamb most

commonly used plate waves in NDT. Lamb waves are complex vibrational waves that propagate parallel to the test surface throughout the thickness of the material. Propagation of Lamb waves depends on the density and the elastic material properties of a component. They are also influenced a great deal by the test frequency and material thickness. Lamb waves are generated at an incident angle in which the parallel component of the velocity of the wave in the source is equal to the velocity of the wave in the test material. Lamb waves will travel several meters in steel and so are useful to scan plate, wire, and tubes. With Lamb waves, a number of modes of particle vibration are possible, but the two most common are symmetrical and asymmetrical. The complex motion of the particles is similar to the elliptical orbits for surface waves. Symmetrical Lamb waves move in a symmetrical fashion about the median plane of the plate. This is sometimes called the extensional mode because the wave is stretching and compressing the plate in the wave motion direction. Wave motion in the symmetrical mode is most efficiently produced when the exciting force is parallel to the plate. The asymmetrical Lamb wave mode is often called the flexural mode because a large portion of the motion moves in a normal direction to the plate, and a little motion occurs in the direction parallel to the plate. In this mode, the body of the plate bends as the two surfaces move in the same direction.

5.3 GUIDED ULTRASONIC WAVES FOR CORROSION DETECTION

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection Guided ultrasonic wave NDE offers the potential for a cost effective methodology for inspection of hidden corrosion in large and sometimes difficult to access areas, such as insulated piping. The field of guided waves has reached some degree of maturity, but unfortunately the number of practical applications compared to the number of research papers is rather small. Guided waves can be used in three regimes, depending on inspection distance: Short range (<< 1 m) Medium range (up to about 5 m) Long range (up to around 100 m) The short range methods include high frequency surface wave scanning with rayleigh waves, leaky lamb waves, and acoustic microscopy in which a leaky surface wave is generated by the lens. The medium range methods typically use frequencies in the 250 kHz to 1 MHz range and are applicable to plate, tube and pipe testing. The long range method generally uses long range frequencies below 100 kHz, and the primary advantage is that it allows a large area to be tested from a single transducer location without tedious scanning. Long range testing, which has the greatest potential utility in field-testing, is usually carried out in the pulse echo mode 5.3.1 Basic principle of ultrasonic guided waves

Fig5. Basic principle of ultrasonic guided waves The major difference between bulk wave propagation and guided wave propagation is the fact that a boundary is required for guided wave propagation. As a result of a boundary along a thin plate or interface, we can imagine a variety of different waves reflecting and mode converting inside a structure and superimposing with areas of constructive and destructive interference that finally leads to the nicely behaved guided wave packets that can travel in the structure. Fig5 shows the angle beam transducer for the generation of guided waves by pulsing a piezoelectric element on the wedge placed on a test surface. As a result of refraction at the interface between the wedge and the test specimen, a variety of different waves can propagate in the structure and by way of mode conversion and reflection from the surfaces of the structure

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection can lead to interference patterns as a resulting wave vector propagates along the structure. Snells law can be used to calculate the resulting phase velocity, sometimes referred to as a Cremer hypothesis. In doing calculations of finding out what interference packages might come about in the material, one can produce a so-called dispersion curve that shows the wave propagation possibilities of phase velocity and frequency that could possibly propagate in the structure.

5.3.2 Air coupled ultrasonic guided wave for hidden corrosion detection in multilayer aircraft structures

Fig6.Air coupled ultrasonic guide waves

Non-contact air-coupled transducers can be used to apply guided waves to the inspection of thinning in aluminum plates. In this application, a pair of micro machined gas (air)-coupled capacitive transducers is used for the generation and detection of guided plate modes. Features in the dispersive behavior of selected guided wave modes were used for the detection of plate thinning. Mode cutoff measurements provided a qualitative detection of plate thinning, while frequency shift measurements were able to provide a quantitative measure of plate thinning. The experimental setup with air coupled transducers is shown in Figure6.Noncontacting electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) can also be used to generate and detect shear horizontal (SH)-guide waves for inspection and mapping of corrosion in pipe walls and plates. The SH waves have a pure shear-motion parallel to the surfaces and perpendicular to the plane of incidence. SH-guided waves have a unique feature in contrast to guided waves with in plane polarization; the lowest order mode has no dispersion and the dispersion of the higher order modes is much weaker than modes with polarization in the plane of incidence. As a result, SH-guided waves could be economically and reliably used to detect and map corrosion in plates and pipes. Couplant free excitation and the resultant simplified waveforms add to the versatility and usefulness of the technique.

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection 5.3.3 Advantages of guided ultrasonic waves Inspection over long distances from a single probe position. By mode and frequency tuning, to establish wave resonances and excellent overall defect detection potential Ability to detect structures under water, coatings, insulation, multilayer structures or concretes with an excellent sensitivity. Potential with multimode and frequency lamb type, surface or horizontal shear waves to detect, locate, classify and size defects. Cost effectiveness because of simplicity and speed

CASE STUDY
6. CORROSION DETECTION IN AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES USING GUIDED LAMB WAVES
6.1 WHY GUIDED LAMB WAVES Lamb wave are used because they offer an improved inspection potential due to their:

variable mode structure and distributions multimode character sensitivity to different type of flaws propagation for long distances Guiding character which enables them to follow curvature and reach hidden and/or buried parts.

6.2 OBJECTIVES Non-destructive testing methods for simple, rapid and reliable corrosion detection in complex metallic assemblies is an on-going challenge; this is due to the size and geometric complexity of these assemblies. Nondestructive ultrasonic testing technique based on velocity change, attenuation and backscattering is been successfully applied by using ultrasonic bulk waves. However, plate waves whose velocity changes with frequency and thickness product can equally be used to detect defects and corrosion in multilayered metallic structures.

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection This work demonstrates the benefits of Lamb waves for detecting corrosion in aluminum multilayered structures. The main objective therefore, was to develop NDT method, through a theoretical and experimental work, to detect corrosion in multilayered aluminum structures.

Experimentally elaborated Guided wave testing method to determine quickly and reliably where these multilayered structurally significant parts are in need of repair. To demonstrate detectability and sensitivity of guided wave techniques, experiments were performed on 1.0 -2.0 mm thick aluminum plates and facilitate interpretation results are presented through imaging. 6.3 CONVENTIONAL ULTRASONIC INSPECTION

Fig7.Conventional ultrasonic inspection

With Conventional ultrasonic method like C-scan the area under interrogation at any instant is limited to region covered by the transducer. Therefore, it is a localized point by point inspection technique. This method is an efficient conventional inspection technique but it is very time consuming for large structural areas. C-scans also have difficulty to inspect non uniform and buried structures, since with a C-scan; a transducer needs access to each point of the inspected area.

6.4 GUIDED WAVE INSPECTION

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection

Fig8. Lamb wave inspection technique Lamb waves also known as plate waves are based on plate wave natural resonant modes. Lamb waves are two dimensional stress waves are guided by the geometry of the plate-like structures whose surfaces are free of stresses. They can propagate in platelike structures that are only a few wavelengths thick (d<=3l) where l represents the incident wavelength.

Particle displacements and stresses in the Lamb waves occur throughout the thickness of the plate. Their propagation properties depend on the density, the elastic properties and geometrical structure of the inspected object and are also influenced by the thickness of the material and the wave cyclic frequency.

6.5 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection

Fig9. Tone burst pulser/receiver system The basic equipment in the instrumentation set up was a tone-burst pulser/receiver system that can be used to excite a high power narrow-band width guided wave mode. The schematic diagram of a generalized tone-burst system set up is given in the above Figure. The output of system is a tone-burst waveform which is fed to the sender (transmitting transducer). This burst is initially formed of a continuous sine wave from the function generator which is gated and subsequently amplified. The received signal (received from the receiving transducer) is transferred to the broadband receiver through the attenuator and the digital oscilloscope. The flexibility of guided wave approach is based on mode selection, criteria which are dictated by launch angle and excitation frequency.

The most widely employed method of guided wave excitation is the wedge or prismatic coupling block method, which is based on conversion (Cook, Valkenburg and Minton 1954).

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection Dispersion curves describe the natural resonance of a specific structure. Commonly presented as a plot of phase group velocity versus the frequency thickness of the structure. They depend upon material properties and the particular geometrical model selected. We use the dispersion curves to determine the incidence angle of the transducer and to select any desired mode. Another type of dispersion curve is presented as a plot of group velocity versus frequency*thickness product of the structure. These graphs are essential for signal interpretation and identification Detectability of corrosion was investigated in two aluminum specimens with two types of simulated corrosion. The first specimen was an aluminum plate with dimension 460x405x1 mm with controlled thinning in designated areas. This first type of corrosion is named open surface corrosion because corrosion is visible to the naked eye. To demonstrate the sensibility of the excited wave modes, corrosions were induced in three places with different level of thinning (10%, 15% and 25%). Measurements were made using the pitch-catch setup which consists of two variable angle broadband transducers with central frequencies at 3.5 MHz, one of the transducers acts as transmitter used to generate the guided wave mode and the other one used to receive the generated mode and its interaction with the corroded structure. The transducers are driven by a tone-burst pulser/receiver system. The first set of tests demonstrates detectability of the open corrosion on the aluminum plate using the pitch- catch setup with piezo-composite transducers.

The inspection of bonded structure with pitch-catch setup is based on the following principles. A guided Lamb wave mode once generated will travel from sender to receiver, producing relatively high amplitude RF signal when a disbond exists between the two bonded layers; otherwise it will leak in the tear strap if the bond is good, preventing the generated wave mode from being received by the receiver.

Relative amplitude changes which occur in the transmitted wave mode through bonded structures are an indication for the existence of disbond, corrosion or even missed tear strap.

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection Thus, The propagation of Lamb guided waves in plates and multilayered structures has been presented. The generation of pure modes and appropriate mode selection has been discussed. Also demonstrated the tools to properly control, predict and launch guided waves in aluminum. Under different conditions, three sets of experimental tests utilizing So, S1 and A1 modes with different frequency-thickness product were performed. Showed how the ultrasonic guided waves method can be used as a highly sensitive, fast and cost effective inspection technique for disbond and corrosion detection. Demonstrated that the ultrasonic guided wave method can be used as appropriate and promising inspection technique. Lamb wave inspection can detect disbond in lap splice joints and tear straps in a single scan and the procedure is suitable for presentation of the results as an image.

7. APPLICATIONS OF ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUES

Some of the applications of ultrasonic techniques for detecting hidden corrosion are as follows 1. ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUE FOR THE DETECTION OF LINER CORROSION IN A HB-53 HELICOPTER FUEL TANKS

Fig10. HB-53 fuel tank 2. ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUES FOR THE DETECTION OF DEFECTS IN RAILS AND WELDED RAIL JOINTS

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection

Fig11a. Shelling

Fig11b.Flaking

Fig11. Surface defects

3. ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUES FOR RAPID ASSESSMENT OF CORROSION DETECTION IN PIPING

Fig12.Electromagnetic acoustic transducer assembly on a pipe run 4. ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUES FOR CORROSION DETECTION IN A STORAGE TANKS

Fig13. Storage tank

8. REFERENCES

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection

Corrosion Detection Technologies, BDM Federal Inc., March 1998

L.E. Soley and J.L. Rose, Ultrasonic Guided Waves for the Detection of Defects and Corrosion in Multi-Layer Structures, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 19B, 2000, pp. 1801-1808. D. Tuzzeo and F. Lanza di Scalea, Noncontact Air-Coupled Guided Wave Ultrasonic for Detection of Thinning Defects in Aluminum Plates, Research in Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2001, pp. 61-77 Y. Bar-Cohen, A.K. Mal and M. Lasser, NDE of Hidden Flaws in Aging Aircraft Structures Using Obliquely Backscattered Ultrasonic Signals (OBUS), The SPIE Conference on Nondestructive Evaluation of Aging Aircraft, Airports, and Aerospace Hardware III, Vol. 3586, 1999, pp. 347-353.
J.C.I.

Chang, Aging Aircraft Science and Technology Issues and Challenges and USAF

Aging Aircraft Program, Structural Integrity in Aging Aircraft, ASME: AD-Vol. 47, 1995. Corrosion Detection Technologies, BDM Federal Inc., March 1998. R.P. Dalton, P. Cawley and M.J.S. Lowe, Propagation of Acoustic Emission Signals in Metallic Fuselage Structure, IEEE Proceedings: Science, Measurement and Technology, Vol. 148, 2001a, pp. 169-177. R.P. Dalton, P. Cawley and M.J.S. Lowe, The Potential of Guided Waves for Monitoring Large Areas of Metallic Aircraft Fuselage Structure, Journal of NDE, Vol. 20, 2001b, pp. 29-46. M.J. Quarry and J.L. Rose; Multimode Guided Wave Inspection of Piping Using Comb Transducers, Materials Evaluation, Vol. 57, No. 10, October 1999, pp.1089-1090.

L.E. Soley and J.L. Rose, Ultrasonic Guided Waves for the Detection of Defects and Corrosion in Multi-Layer Structures, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 19B, 2000, pp. 1801-1808.

D. Tuzzeo and F. Lanza di Scalea, Noncontact Air-Coupled Guided Wave Ultrasonic for Detection of Thinning Defects in Aluminum Plates, Research in Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2001, pp. 61-77.

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection H.J. Salzburger, Long Range Detection of Corrosion by Guided Shear Horizontal (SH-) Waves, The 7th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, Copenhagen, May 1998, pp. 751-757. F. Ravenscroft and C. Bull, Corrosion Detection Using CHIME, Insight, Vol. 42, No. 2, February 2000, pp. 80-83. D.J. Barnard and D.K. Hsu, Detection and Quantification of Intergranular Corrosion Around Wing Skin Fasteners Using the Dripless Bubbler Ultrasonic Scanner, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 18B, 1999, pp. 1821-1828. P.S. Rutherford, NDI Method to Locate Intergranular Corrosion Around Fastener Holes in Aluminum Wing Skins, SPIE, Vol. 3397, 1998, pp. 57-66. M. Choquet, D. Levesque, M. Massabki, C. Neron, N.C. Bellinger, D. Forsyth, C.E. Chapman, R. Gould, J.P. Komorowski and J.P. Monchain, Laser-Ultrasonic Detection of Hidden Corrosion in Aircraft Lap Joints: Results from Corroded Samples, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 20B, 2001, pp. 300-307. I.N. Komsky, Ultrasonic Imaging of Hidden Defects Using Dry-coupled Ultrasonic Probes, Health Monitoring and Smart Nondestructive Evaluation of Structural and Biological Systems V, edited by Tribikram Kundu, Proc. of SPIE, Vol. 61770M, 2006. M. Lasser, B. Lasser, J. Kula and G. Rohrer, Developments in Real-Time 2DUltrasound Inspection for Aging Aircraft, SPIE Conference on Nondestructive Evaluation of Aging Aircraft, Airports, and Aerospace Hardware III, Vol. 3586, 1999, pp. 78-84.

Y. Bar-Cohen, A.K. Mal and M. Lasser, NDE of Hidden Flaws in Aging Aircraft Structures Using Obliquely Backscattered Ultrasonic Signals (OBUS), The SPIE Conference on Nondestructive Evaluation of Aging Aircraft, Airports, and Aerospace Hardware III, Vol. 3586, 1999, pp. 347-353. R. Rempt, Scanning with Magnetoresistive Sensors for Subsurface Corrosion, Review of Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 21B, 2002, pp. 1771-1778. S. Giguere, B.A. Lepine and J.M.S. Dubois, Pulsed Eddy Current Technology: Characterizing Material Loss with Gap and Lift-off Variations, Research in Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 13, No.3, 2001, pp. 119-129.

Ultrasonic techniques for hidden corrosion detection M.S. Safizadeh, Z. Liu, C. Mandache, D.S. Forsyth and A. Fahr, Automated Pulsed Eddy Current Method for Detection and Classification of Hidden Corrosion, Proc. Vth International Workshop, Advances in Signal Processing for Non Destructive Evaluation of Materials, Quebec City (Canada), 2-4 Aug. 2005, X. Maldague ed., E. du Cao, 2006, pp. 75-84. Y.S. Sun, T. Ouang and S. Upda, Remote Field Eddy Current Testing: One of the Potential Solutions for Detecting Deeply Embedded Discontinuities in Thick and Multilayer Metallic Structures, Materials Evaluation, Vol. 59, No. 5, May 2001, pp. 632-637. D.K. Thome, Development of an Improved Magneto-Optic/Eddy-CurrentImager, Published by The National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, Virginia, April 1998. L.D. Favro, R.L. Thomasand and X. Han, State-of-the-Art of Thermal Wave Imaging for NDE of Aging Aircraft, Nondestructive Evaluation of Aging Aircraft, Airports, and Aerospace Hardware III, SPIE Vol. 3586, March 1999, pp. 94-97. X. Han, L.D. Favro, L. Li, Z, Ouyang, G. Sun, R.L. Thomas and D.M. Ahsbaugh, Quantitative Thermal Wave Corrosion Measurements on a DC-9 Belly Skin in the Presence of Irregular Paint Thickness Variations, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 20A, 2001, pp. 483-486. N. Meyendorf, J. Hoffman and E. Shell, Early Detection of Corrosion in Aircraft Structures, Review of Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 21B, 2002, pp. 1792-1797. W.P. Winfree and K.E. Cramer, Reconstruction of Back Surface Profiles from Scanned Thermal Line Source Data Using Neural Networks, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 19A, 2000, pp. 691-698. Rennell, R., "Results of Evaluation of NDI Equipment for Detection of Hidden Corrosion on USAF Aircraft", Tinker AFB Reports prepared by ARINC Research Corp., May 1993 and September 1995.