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NDI zooms in on new tech

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Mackenzie Richardson
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  The 92nd Maintenance Squadron's nondestructive inspection flight acquired a new microscope that helps identify defects in aircraft parts, increases shop productivity and could potentially save lives.

NDI is an inspection of a structure or component to detect flaws, measure geometric usefulness, determine material structure and composition or characterize physical electrical or thermal properties without causing changes in the part. Their mission is to find discontinuities in aircraft parts, such as cracks and fractures, before they become a catastrophic problem.

"This microscope makes it way easier to look at parts. We are able to create measurements on the monitor and make more confident analyses of cracks," said Tech. Sgt. Natasha Washington, 92nd MXS NDI NCO in charge. "It also allows us to look at parts at a much greater magnification and have a much quicker turn around for our pieces."

The digital microscope has a high-resolution, 2.11-million-pixel compact camera that allows Airmen to zoom in, measure and view fractures and cracks on various aircraft parts. A monitor is attached that allows the NDI to display, print and record the cracks found during their inspections, as well as construct a 3-D image.

"NDI is extremely important because we inspect parts and find defects before they become catastrophic," said Tech Sgt. Ron Tisdale, 92nd MXS command support staff flight chief and previous NDI NCO in charge. "With this new microscope, we are conducting good preventative maintenance, saving time by getting a much clearer image and have enhanced our flaw detection exponentially."

This advancement in technology has allowed the small NDI shop to increase productivity and create a more effective inspection process.