SCANNER | NEWMEDIA cost pressures from low-cost countries, and a skills shortage, organizations in high-wage countries and high-tech sectors like aerospace will have to trans- form their operations through technology to stay relevant in a globalized world. This leads us to the question: Where do we currently stand in terms of this transformation? We are rapidly approaching the tipping point. With many of the standard-setting activities well underway and a broad adoption of the new technologies by solution providers, we have all the tools needed to innovate our inspection processes. To succeed, we must have a curious mindset and embrace the new technology as a tool and friend in the upcoming indus- trial revolution. It is our duty to explore these new technologies early on and assess their viability for our organizations. Internal know-how can be built through training sessions, conference participa- tion, engagement with solution providers, and small pilot projects. NDE 4.0 comes with a new vocabulary and tools that are significantly different from those we are used to today. But the skills and experi- ences of qualified inspectors will not be replaced through this technology—they will be complemented. Venturing a glimpse into the future, we estimate that in five years we will see a high degree of automation and implementation of robotics in many industries. AI will be a broadly used tool that assists inspectors to make consis- tent decisions and reduce repetitive tasks. Global organizations will have connected their inspection systems through cloud connectivity, and inspec- tion results will be archived online, accessible for all approved stakeholders. Advanced inspection technologies like computed tomography will be broadly used to generate insights into parts and to generate digital twins. Predictive maintenance algorithms will be used to minimize unscheduled equipment down- time. The jobs of NDT technicians and managers will look significantly different and will require additional skill sets. These changes are coming, whether we like it or not. There is still time to prepare for the coming change and to embrace the possibilities of the tools that it brings along. It all comes down to a choice of whether we want to be in the driver’s seat or whether we will be surprised and therefore disrupted by it. AUTHOR Lennart Schulenburg: VisiConsult X-ray Systems & Solutions GmbH, Stockelsdorf, Germany l.schulenburg@visiconsult.de 1 Handbook of Nondestructive Evaluation 4.0, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48200-8 2 “Technology Feels Like It’s Accelerating – Because It Actually Is,” https://singularityhub. com/2016/03/22/technology-feels-like-its- accelerating-because-it-actually-is 3 “Kongsberg Reduces X-ray Inspection Time by 90%,” https://visiconsult.de/kongsberg-reduces -inspection-time 4 “Aviation Supplier PFW Talks about AI in Industrial X-ray Testing,” https://visiconsult.de/ interview-pfw-en NDE 4.0 HANDBOOK Springer has published the Handbook of Nondestructive Evaluation 4.0 edited by Norbert Meyendorf, Nathan Ida, Ripudaman Singh, and Johannes Vrana. This handbook comprehensively covers the cutting-edge trends and techniques essential for the integration of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) into the changing face of the modern industrial landscape. In particular, it delves into the marriage of NDE with new techniques in areas such as data mining, cloud computing, and auton- omous operation, highlighting the potential for cyber-physical controlled production and discussing the myriad of possible applications across many different industries. The material in this handbook is presented with the intention of ultimately improving human safety through reli- able inspections and dependable main- tenance of critical infrastructure, while also enhancing business value through reduced downtime, affordable mainte- nance, and talent optimization. LINK.SPRINGER.COM NDE OUTLOOK FROM P. 15 | HIGHLIGHT LIQUID PENETRANT TESTING BOOK ASNT’s Principles & Applications of Liquid Penetrant Testing is now available as an ebook. Packed with new photographs, updated standards, practices, and references, this revised edition of the popular reference for liquid penetrant testing (PT) was created as a classroom training book or for the working technician to use every day. This book was originally written by Bernie Boisvert in 1993 and was updated by Charles W. Eick in 2020. Eick is the owner of Royal Blue NDT Services, holds Level III certifica- tion in five methods including PT, and is an active member of several ASNT committees. Principles & Applications of Liquid Penetrant Testing brings PT practice into the 21st century. This book is recommended for every level of PT certification. It is also an excellent book for Level IIs studying for Level III certification. ASNT.ORG 16 M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N • A P R I L 2 0 2 2

Patents Roundup provides a review of recent patents of interest to the NDT community. If you’ve been granted a patent and would like to see it featured in an upcoming issue, please email Patents Editor Saptarshi Mukherjee at mukherjee5@llnl.gov. DEVELOPMENTS IN LASER ULTRASOUND SYSTEMS Laser ultrasound is a noncontact technique that uses a laser generator and a laser detector for nondestructive testing, characterization of materials, and measuring material thickness. In this issue, we briefly summarize three new patents focused on laser ultrasound systems. US 7,784,348 B2 ARTICULATED ROBOT FOR LASER ULTRASONIC INSPECTION (Marc Dubois, Thomas E. Drake, Jr., Kenneth Yawn, and Mark Osterkamp) This patent describes a laser ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation (NDE) system for inspecting complex materials. The ultrasound inspection head that gener- ates and detects a laser beam and collects phase modulated light scattered by a material is attached to an articulated robot that can inspect the material, previ- ously inaccessible to gantry robots. The scattered light collected is representative of the mechanical responses of the part and hence provides information about the internal structure. It is claimed that the system is adaptable toward wider and more complex environments as well as integrated components such as interior of an aircraft fuselage. US 10,539,538 B2 LASER ULTRASOUND SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INSPECTION OF A CONTOURED STRUCTURE (Morteza Safai and Gary E. Georgeson) This patent describes a low-power fiber- based laser ultrasound system for NDE and quality certification of an array of nanoscopic structures having a prede- termined directional orientation. High- emissivity coatings are applied to the structure for better coupling of laser ultrasound. The incident laser energy is directed in a direction defined by the array orientation, and a pulsed laser beam is scanned across the structure to detect the reflected ultrasonic waves. The reflected waves are used to determine whether the structure meets a predeter- mined threshold. US 8,054,470 B2 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF SAMPLES USING A LASER-ULTRASOUND SYSTEM (Peter W. Lorraine, Thomas E. Drake, Jr., John B. Deaton, Jr., Marc Dubois, and Robert Filkins) This patent describes a spectroscopic analysis of a material using a laser ultra- sound system. The technique relies on measuring amplitude displacement of the material surface excited with a gener- ation laser that relates to the material’s thermoelastic expansion properties. The ultrasonic displacement is directly proportional to the optical penetration depth, which is inversely proportional to the material’s optical absorption prop- erties. The patent further claims that by varying the generation laser beam optical wavelength, an absorption band of the material can be observed over the wave- length range. PATENTSROUNDUP | SCANNER | PARTICIPATE IN AMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT ASNT’s Standards Council (StC) develops ASNT’s standards, including ASNT CP-105: ASNT Standard Training Outlines of Nondestructive Testing Personnel ANSI/ASNT CP-106: Nondestructive Testing — Qualification and Certification of Personnel ANSI/ASNT CP-189: ASNT Standard for Qualification and Certification of Nondestructive Testing Personnel and ANSI/ASNT ILI-PQ: In-line Inspection Personnel Qualification and Certification. If you wish to join the StC and participate in the development of American National Standards, contact StC Secretary Brian Frye at bfrye@asnt.org. CALL FOR HANDBOOK CONTRIBUTORS The technical editors for the forthcoming fourth editions of the Electromagnetic Testing Handbook and the Ultrasonic Testing Handbook are looking for content contributors. ET or UT Level IIIs who are willing to share their deep knowledge—from the most basic principles to the most current techniques—are needed now to write and update content for these two highly respected handbooks. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make a lasting contribution to your method’s body of knowledge and earn recertification points. Contact the handbook technical editors to volunteer now: ▶ ET Handbook – Hussein Sadek: hmsadek@tciintl.com ▶ UT Handbook – Doron Kishoni: dkishoni22sntoh5 @b-sol.com For questions or additional information, please email ASNT Handbook Editor Karen Balkin at kbalkin@asnt.org. A P R I L 2 0 2 2 • M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N 17