1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to non-destructive inspection. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to non-destructive inspection using a scanning element mounted to an adaptive contour compliance apparatus to test samples that may include a curvature that varies from sample to sample.
2. Description of the Related Art
Non-destructive inspection involves the examination of parts, often in a production environment, wherein some characteristic of the part is measured to evaluate a certain aspect of the part, such as the quality of construction. As opposed to other techniques to gauge the quality of a part or to find defects, such as cross sectioning, drilling or excising a portion of the part, all of which may destroy the part or at least render the part unusable, non-destructive inspection does not typically harm the part in any way. Often, the methods of non-destructive inspection include scanning a part by transmitting a form of radiation at the part and recording the reflected or perhaps refracted radiation to form an image or profile of the part. Sorting or rejection of parts may take place based on the image or profile of the part.
Non-destructive inspection mechanisms typically either manipulate the part in order to scan it or move the inspection element along the surface of the part in order to make a scan. Mobile inspection mechanisms can often scan parts that may include a curvature, although the mechanisms may be unsuitable or inefficient for scanning elongated parts that have a small cross-sectional area such as a shear tie. Stationary inspection mechanisms are often well-suited for scanning elongated parts that have a small cross-sectional area. However, these stations may not be able to handle samples that have a curvature or the stations may be set up to handle only a fixed radius of curvature. Thus, there is a need for a stationary inspection mechanism that can inspect samples that may have a curvature which varies from sample to sample.