POD evaluation using simulation: Progress, practice and perspectives

Abstract

NDT performances evaluation in the aeronautic industry is made by estimating Probability of Detection (POD). It is a statistical estimation of the capability of a given NDT procedure to detect defects as a function of their size. The accuracy of the statistical estimation is directly linked the quality and quantity of collected data. The more data and the more realistic they are, the better the POD estimation. This practical production of data may have very high cost, sometimes obliging to decrease either the quantity or the quality (realistic) of data, or even both. In the last decade MAPOD and simulation-based POD approaches have emerged and been used for concept demonstration as a solution to decrease the cost of evaluating POD. Today tools are available to support these studies and are used in industrial laboratories. This paper reviews some examples of POD evaluation using simulation, describes the actual practice of the tools in the European aeronautical context and also draws some limits and perspectives for a future wider application of the simulation helped POD approach.