In a historical perspective, non-destructive testing (NDT) applied for testing and evaluation of materials in the industry has been a craftmanship of the operating personnel. The quality of their performance has been based on previous experiences and individual skill. Increased capability demands on existing techniques and developments of new ones, together with new regulations of qualification/certification of used techniques within the nuclear industry, have recently called for a more theoretical treatment of the subject.

Since all the NDT methods are based upon different fundamental physical principles, in Sweden pertinent and established research, have been scattered and are based on a number of faculties and universities. This specialization and diversification impedes the development of redundant techniques that have capability in e.g. quality control. Recently, mathematical modelling of NDT has received attention as a cost efficient and powerful tool in a number of areas of application. It has shown to be an efficient tool, both in terms of optimization and economy. The scientific group consists of a number of senior scientists from different scientific areas with experiences of NDT in industrial applications (nuclear industry, cast industry and vehicle design). The research and development is as a consequence focused on theoretical knowledge-based techniques and methods for a number of NDT-methods (UT, RT and ET).

Head of the research group is Håkan Wirdelius