What is Nondestructive Characterization (NDC)?

A scientific discipline that aims to understand the internal physical properties of a material, component or system without causing damage.

Why NDC, and not NDT, NDI or NDE (Testing, Inspection, Evaluation)?

We chose to use Nondestructive Characterization because our focus is often on quantitative physical properties like density, atomic structure, radioactivity, etc. NDT, NDI or NDE refer to important work in standards and certification done by organizations like ASNT for such needs as weld certification and crack or flaw detection. Much of our R&D extends to the next level, where we characterize all aspects of an object compared to what was expected (“as-built” vs “as-designed”).

How do you Characterize something?

Similar to medical diagnostics, we use many forms of active (x-rays, gamma-rays, microwaves, ultrasound, etc.) and passive (e.g., radioactive or acoustic emissions) measurements combined with physics-based analysis to do comprehensive NDC.