AFRL Leads Transition from Film to Digital Inspection Published Oct. 19, 2012 By Heyward Burnette, AFRL/RXOB Materials and Manufacturing WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Engineers from the Air Force Research Laboratory are paving the way for acceptance of digital radiography as the industry standard for radiographic inspection for aerospace parts. Air Force ManTech, the Defense Logistics Agency's ManTech, the Air Force Metals Affordability Initiative, and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are working with suppliers and equipment vendors proving film and digital radiography are equivalent and gaining the American Society for Testing of Materials' (ASTM) acceptance of digital reference radiographic standards. This team completed studies at each casting supplier and developed guideline documents and standards for implementation of digital radiography for aerospace castings. The implementation of digital radiography technology eliminates costly film processing and storage requirements that can account for up to five percent of the total cost of a casting. A decrease in radiographic inspection times, by as much as 90 percent, and an increased probability of flaw detection (from 85 to 97 percent) are also expected. Inspection of Department of Defense parts and components using digital radiography is expected to result in savings of $80 million over the next 10 years. Digital radiography technology is now widely available as a more affordable in-house inspection tool for metalcasting quality assessment. However, digital reference standards had to be established to certify a part using this new technology.