The role of non-destructive evaluation is changing dramatically, and it has already expanded beyond its historical mission of detecting macroscopic defects in structures and in finished components which had usually spent a considerable time in service.
The role of nondestructive evaluation is changing dramatically. It has expanded beyond its historical mission of detecting macroscopic defects in structures and devices which had already been constructed and most often had been in service for an extended period of time. Today, advanced nondestructure materials characterization methods provide continuous information on the processing conditions, and the properties of the materials being processed. Real-time process monitoring for more effective and efficient real-time process control, and improved product quality and reliability has become a practical reality. The book features the active involvement of not just the metallurgists, chemists, physicists, material scientists, structural and mechanical engineers, that have been involved in this area in the past, but of engineers, scientists and mathematicians proficient in computational technologies, such as digital signal/image processing and analysis, neural, and statistical pattern recognition as applied to industrial sorting systems, data fusion, data compression and database management.