PREFACE
The 29th annual Review of Progress in Quantitative NDE was held at Western
Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, July 14-19, 2002. Papers presented
at the Review are collected in these volumes. Despite the tragedies of September 11,
2001 and their worldwide repercussions, the 29th Review of Progress maintained its
reputation as an excellent international meeting that brought together some 315
researchers, engineers, and students of NDE from academia, industry, and government.
Some 28 different countries were represented including members of the World
Federation of NDE Centers, a global federation aimed at promoting global cooperation in
NDE education and research. The Review was sponsored by QNDE Programs with
logistical planning by Summit Associates and hosted by the Center for NDE at Iowa State
University. Partial support was provided by the American Society for Nondestructive
Testing (ASNT), the Ames Laboratory U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)Langley Research Center, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University
Cooperative Research Centers, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
George O. Strawn, Assistant Director and Executive Officer, Directorate for
Computer & Information Science & Engineering at the National Science Foundation,
provided the keynote address entitled, "Recent and Anticipated Advances in Scientific
Computing". This is a subject of keen importance to NDE researchers and engineers,
since these advances will open new horizons in data acquisition, processing, and
interpretation. Dr. Strawn presented a comprehensive survey of Information Technology
(IT) that extended from a historical perspective extending well into the past to the far
future. Of particular interest to the scientific/engineering communities were his
comments that addressed the broad aspects of future directions and availability of IT
including computing, storage, telecommunications, sensors, and displays, and software.
Dr. Strawn noted that the Presidential IT Advisory Committee's first three concerns in
1999 were "...software, software, and software". He also made some major predictions
for the future—that by 2020 computers will reach the power of the brain, and that by
2100 we will need new laws for "ex-humans" who have "cyberized" themselves into a
new species. The keynote lecture itself was somewhat of a demonstration of IT.
Unfortunately, Dr. Strawn was ill and unable to travel; yet, he managed to deliver his
excellent lecture over the telephone and audio system to the assembled audience with the
assistance of Dr. Bruce Thompson. Dr. Strawn is to be thanked for his extraordinary
efforts.
xxv
The second plenary session focused on reviews of advances in two key topics. In
the first of these, Dr. Iris Altpeter, in collaboration with Dr. Gerd Dobmann, both from
the well-known Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institutes (IZFP) at the Universitat des
Saarlandes, Saarbriicken, provided an excellent overview of current activities and new
results concerning NDE of material degradation by embrittlement and fatigue. Topics
that were highlighted included an evaluation of the potential of electromagnetic
techniques for characterization of material strength in ferrous materials (using an analogy
between domain wall and dislocation movement), the suitability of micromagnetic NDE
techniques for the characterization of the Vicker's hardness as an indicator of
embrittlement in fossil fuel plant steels, and the early detection of degradation and
prediction of the remaining lifetime in austenitic stainless steels using new sensor
techniques. Dr. Peter Cawley of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial
College of London, presented the second plenary talk in this session entitled, "Practical
Long Range Guided Wave Inspection-Managing Complexity". Dr. Cawley and his
colleagues, global leaders in the research and application of guided ways as a quantitative
NDE technique clearly demonstrated their mastery of this valuable tool in this talk. Dr.
Cawley noted that guided waves have a high potential for inspection in complex
structures because they can be excited at one point and will propagate and return defect
echoes from long distances thus avoiding complex scanning systems. However, this
capability also creates complexity in interpretation of results because of multiple paths,
and defect echo returns, and other unwanted returns. Dr. Cawley provided an excellent
discussion of both the complexity and potential of guided wave testing using, as an
example, the development of a guided wave testing system for long pipe and rail systems.
The technical programs that followed the opening plenary sessions consisted of
both verbal and poster sessions. Verbal sessions included both invited sessions organized
around specific subjects as well as contributed sessions, organized around a broader
scope of subjects. Organized sessions included Microwave NDE, "Smart" Systems for
Structural Health, Ultrasonic Arrays, Thermosonics (dual modality) and Thermal Wave
Imaging, Acoustic Emission, Laser Ultrasonics and Applications, a memorial session for
Dr. John (Jack) Lincoln on NDE Reliability and the Probability of Detection, and a
special session on "Benchmark Problems". Although not reported in these volumes, the
traditional Wednesday night "open line discussion session" was keyed on "Opportunities
for NDE in Security Problems". This session was highlighted by presentations from Dr.
Michael Stumborg, Naval Research Sciences Advisor, Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection,
Dr. G. J. Posakony, PNNL, and Mr. Matt Golis, Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
Dr. John (Jack) Lincoln, in whose honor the session on reliability and Probability
of Detection (POD) was organized and presented, did much to stimulate the quantitative
NDE field through his work in the formulation and direction of Air Force structural
integrity programs, particularly the Engine and Airframe Structural Integrity Programs.
These programs were among the first to set quantitative NDE requirements for flaw
detectability that led to the application of POD concepts as a key NDE quantitative
parameter.
xxvi
Papers from these various sessions are organized in these volumes (A and B) in
the customary way. Volume A is focused on research in technique development whereas
Volume B contains papers that are concerned with applications of a technique to
particular problems, e.g., materials characterization. However, it is not always possible
to make a clean-cut editorial decision in this selection process because of the broad and
often dual nature of NDE. It is hoped that the authors and readers will bear with our
decisions.
The organizers of the Review wish to thank the many individuals whose efforts
and participation were essential to the Review. They are indebted to the Plenary
speakers, Dr. George Strawn, Dr. Iris Altpeter, and Dr. Peter Cawley for an excellent
technical introduction to the Conference; to our Wednesday night speakers Michael
Stumborg, Gerry Posakony, and Matt Golis for a visionary look at future NDE needs in
security matters; to members of the World Federation of NDE Centers, a global coalition
for NDE cooperation, for organizing the futuristic benchmark problems session; and to a
number of people who organized special sessions. The latter include: Robert Addison
(Rockwell Science Center), Lisa Brasche (Iowa State University), Xiaoyan Han (Wayne
State University), Maria Isabel Lopez Pumarega (Comision Nacional de Energia
Atomica), John Mittleman (Naval Fleet/Forces Technology Innovation Office), Thomas
Moran (AFRL/Materials and Manufacturing Directorate), John Popovics (The University
of Illinois), Harry Ringermacher and Marc Dubois (General Electric), Bruce Thompson
(Iowa State University), Satish Udpa (Michigan State University), and Reza Zoughi
(University of Missouri-Rolla). The organizers also wish to thank the chairpersons for
managing the sessions on time yet finding time for key points of technical discussion.
They are indebted to Ms. Linda Poore, Ms. Libby Bilyeu, and Ms. Heidi Long for their
assistance both prior to and at the meeting, and to Ms. Karen Cheney and Ms. Joann
Wallace of Summit Associates, Inc. for their management of conference logistics. The
organizers wish to acknowledge the special contributions of Ms. Connie Nessa and Ms.
Sarah Kallsen for their devoted dedication and highly professional assistance in the
preparation and management of technical abstracts, manuscripts, and these Proceedings.
Finally, and not least, the organizers wish to thank the Conference attendees for their
participation at the Review and for their preparation of the written manuscripts that are
the core of the Proceedings.
Donald O. Thompson
Founding Director, Center for NDE
and
Anson Marston Distinguished Professor
Emeritus, Aerospace Engineering and
Engineering Mechanics
Scientific Advisor, Institute for
Physical Research and Technology
Iowa State University
Ames,IA 50011
Dale E. Chimenti
Center for NDE
and
Department of Aerospace
Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
XXVll