XIM: X-Ray Inspection Module for Automatic High Speed Inspection of Turbine Blades and Automated Flaw Detection and Classification

Under military manufacturing technology funding, a production prototype X-ray Inspection Module (XIM) has been established at General Electric Corporate Research and Development (GE-CRD) and delivered to Quality Technology (QT), General Electric Aircraft Engine Business Group (GE-AEBG). A company funded production unit has been built by GE-AEBG and delivered to the GE-AEBG manufacturing facility in Madisonville, Kentucky where it is in use in production. Computerized tomography (CT) and digital fluoroscopy (DF) images are produced with the system. The CT images provide an image cross-section, and the DF images are much like chest X-rays.The system was designed to automatically inspect and analyze flaws present in turbine blades. It was applied to two flaw types; each type in a different turbine blade. The image processing is performed on complex gray scale images with varying background. The XIM system may be used either automatically or in a manual mode with a trained operator to interpret the images and make quality decisions

A Multizone Technique for Billet Inspection

An ultrasonic inspection system has been developed in response to FAA recommendations for improved inspection of titanium billet [1]. This prototype system — called Multizone — has been transitioned to the factory floor and has inspected 1,000,000+ pounds of Ti billet in 1993–94. It is a real-time, PC based platform that employs custom built analog electronics using up to 8 parallel (non-multiplexed) channels, each with a remote pulser/receiver matched to the ultrasonic transducer. Scanned helically, the billet is divided into concentric zones with a focused transducer used to acquire peak detected C-Scan image data for each zone. The depth of each zone is established by the depth of focus of that transducer. C-Scan image data from all channels are displayed simultaneously on a 1024×1280 CRT and scroll as the inspection advances along the billet length. The data are written to optical storage upon completion of the inspection. The analog electronics are fully synchronous and could provide a baseline system for the acquisition of full waveforms. Custom post scan analysis software has been developed to detect flaws using signal to noise based algorithms. This software provides more reproducible results than conventional systems and greatly reduces operator fatigue and the chance for error. This paper will discuss the system architecture and operation. A companion paper in this volume discusses inspection results. [2

Реконструкция котла ПК-38 на Назаровской ГРЭС в г. Назарово Красноярского края

В работе рассматривается реконструкция котла ПК-38, работающего на твердом топливе Назаровского месторождения. Приведены конструктивные характеристики топки и всех поверхностей нагрева, произведен поверочный расчет котельного агрегата.The paper reviews the reconstruction of the PK-38 boiler, which operates on solid fuel at the Nazarovo deposit. The design characteristics of the furnace and all heating surfaces are presented, and the boiler unit is calibrate

Acoustic Microscopy: Materials Art and Materials Science

Significant progress has been made in acoustic microscopy and other forms of acoustic imaging over the last two decades. Originally introduced by Quate [1], this technology has been established by Weglin [2], Kino [3], Wickramasinghe [4], Bertoni [5], and Quate [6] as a powerful tool for materials characterization and development. The work described here [7] goes beyond that cited: it utilizes time-resolved acoustic signals of much greater bandwidth, and does not rely on V(z) behavior to form images. Instead only the digitized amplitudes of the spatially and temporally resolved acoustic signals are processed and displayed to form the images. Much of the progress reported here is also due to advances in computer display technology. Originally presented as posters, the included figures demonstrate various hardcopy and high-resolution raster displays incorporated in the described acoustic microscope. Keeping in mind the purpose for which each image was intended, it is instructive to compare the image quality that the different displays can produce. Six figures, containing twenty-nine separate images, make up the presentation. In their original display format, each figure was a 30 × 40 in. poster in which the individual images were displayed at the identical magnifications that were initially presented to the acoustic microscopist.</p

Regulation of cocaine-induced activator protein 1 transcription factors by the extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway.

Extracellular signal-regulated kinases and activator protein 1 transcription factor have been functionally linked to addiction. It has also been shown that extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation can regulate cocaine-induced expression of c-Fos and FosB, two possible components of activator protein 1. A direct link between extracellular signal-regulated kinases and activator protein 1 activation has, however, remained unexplored. In this study, we investigated the role of extracellular signal-regulated kinases in the regulation of DNA-binding activity and composition of activator protein 1 induced in the mouse caudate putamen by cocaine treatment. We have found that pre-treatment with SL327, a selective inhibitor the extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway, has no influence on cocaine-induced DNA-binding activity of activator protein 1, when examined one hour after an acute cocaine treatment. This phenomenon results from simultaneous decrease of c-Fos protein level and increases in JunB and deltaFosB protein levels. SL327 pre-treatment, however, reduces the DNA-binding activity of the activator protein 1 complex induced six hours after an acute cocaine treatment as well as one hour after the last of the chronic cocaine injections, a phenomenon that results from the concomitant reduction of all cocaine-induced proteins (c-Fos, FosB, deltaFosB, JunB). In conclusion, we have found that extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibition may not only interfere with cocaine-induced gene expression and activator protein 1 complex activation, but may also disturb the time-course of gene expression and composition of activator protein 1 complex. Our results support the notion that inhibitors of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway could be valuable tools to obliterate cocaine-induced molecular changes and the development of addiction

A Necessity for MAP Kinase Activation in Mammalian Spatial Learning

Although the biochemical mechanisms underlying learning and memory have not yet been fully elucidated, mounting evidence suggests that activation of protein kinases and phosphorylation of their downstream effectors plays a major role. Recent findings in our laboratory have shown a requirement for the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade in hippocampal synaptic plasticity. Therefore, we used an inhibitor of MAPK activation, SL327, to test the role of the MAPK cascade in hippocampus-dependent learning in mice. SL327, which crosses the blood-brain barrier, was administered intraperitoneally at several concentrations to animals prior to cue and contextual fear conditioning. Administration of SL327 completely blocked contextual fear conditioning and significantly attenuated cue learning when measured 24 hr after training. To determine whether MAPK activation is required for spatial learning, we administered SL327 to mice prior to training in the Morris water maze. Animals treated with SL327 exhibited significant attenuation of water maze learning; they took significantly longer to find a hidden platform compared with vehicle-treated controls and also failed to use a selective search strategy during subsequent probe trials in which the platform was removed. These impairments cannot be attributed to nonspecific effects of the drug during the training phase; no deficit was seen in the visible platform task, and injection of SL327 following training produced no effect on the performance of these mice in the hidden platform task. These findings indicate that the MAPK cascade is required for spatial and contextual learning in mice