3 Day Open Conference

Wire crimp termination verification using ultrasonic inspection
Tuesday 18th November 2008
11.40 - 12.00
Auditorium 2

The development of a new ultrasonic measurement technique to quantitatively assess wire crimp terminations is discussed. The amplitude change of a compressional ultrasonic wave propagating through the junction of a crimp termination and wire is shown to correlate with the results of a destructive pull test, which previously has been used to assess crimp wire junction quality. Various crimp faults such as missing wire strands, incorrect wire gauge, incomplete wire insertion in connector, are ultrasonically tested, and their results are correlated with pull tests. Results show that the ultrasonic measurement technique consistently predicts good crimps when ultrasonic transmission is above a certain energy amplitude level. A prototype instrument for applying the technique while wire crimps are installed is also presented. Finally, an approach for applying this technique to multipin indenter type crimps will be discussed and preliminary results will be shown.

About the Speaker(s):

Mr Daniel Perey
Research Scientist
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, USA
NASA Langley Research Center

Mr. Perey is a senior research scientist at the NASA Langley Research Center and currently serves as group leader for instrumentation development in the Nondestructive Evaluation Sciences Branch. In addition, Mr. Perey is the Associate Principal Investigator for detection technologies in NASA's Aircraft Aging and Durability program as part of the agency's new Aviation Safety program. Mr. Perey received his BS degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Tennessee, Knoxville.