UCAT-I Ultrasound Training and Certification

There are three major reasons why over 5,000 vibration analysts choose Mobius Institute every year, and why you should, therefore, choose Mobius Institute for your ultrasound training and certification:

1. We make complex topics simple with amazing 3D animations and simulations that make you say, “Ah, now I get it!”
2. We give you access to the entire course before the class begins so you are better prepared, and for six months after the course, just in case you still have questions
3. We use anonymous, stress-free polling throughout the course, so you know if you truly understand each topic, and the instructor knows not to move on to the next topic – no student is left behind

We have been training since 1999, and we have had accredited certification since 2012.”

We offer the ultimate flexibility:

• PUBLIC: You can take the public, instructor-led course with other people like you. You can find a public course here.
• VIRTUAL: You take the course from the comfort and safety of your computer, with an instructor guiding you through the course. You can find a virtual course here.
• ON-SITE: You can invite the instructor to your site and save yourself the cost, hassle, and risk. You can find partners who can deliver the course here.
• VIDEO: You can have the ultimate in safety and flexibility by watching a video of the course. You can watch it multiple times! You can place your order here.

This course is intended for the ultrasound analyst and technician analyst who will:

• Collect ultrasound data to detect fault conditions in rotating machinery, electrical equipment, and a host of other equipment including valves, hydraulics, steam traps, and more
• Detect leaks in compressed air and steam systems
• Grease lubricate bearings with precision
• Use the training and certification as the start of a new and rewarding career as an ultrasound technician

Duration:

• 32 hours, typically over four days

Format:

• Live public course
• On-site course
• Virtual online course
• Video distance learning online course

Compliance:

• Training and certification: ISO 18436-8
• Certification: ISO 18436-1, ISO/IEC 17024
• Training: ISO 18436-3

Exam:

• Two-hours
• 60 multiple-choice questions
• 70% passing grade
• Can be taken online or in-person at the course

Certification requirements:

• Training course completed
• 6-months of work experience, verified by an independent person
• Pass the exam
• Pass a hearing test
• Valid for 5 years

Pre-study:

• Access to the “Learning zone” upon registration and payment
• Complete set of videos covering every topic
• An excellent way to be prepared and get the most from the course

Post-study:

• Continue to access the Learning zone for 6-months after the course
• Continue learning, without charge, on Mobius CONNECT® via www.mobiusconnect.com

There are so many benefits to taking this course. You will learn:

• about condition monitoring, including a summary of the most common technologies
• about reliability improvement
• how ultrasound testing and ultrasound-assisted lubrication plays a key role in reliability improvement
• about the fundamentals of sound: frequency, amplitude, wavelength, pitch, and period
• how it is measured and quantified: dB, rms, peak, kurtosis, and crest factor)
• how sound behaves: speed of sound, reflection, refraction, and transmission
• how ultrasound is detected in industrial settings
• how to take dependable, repeatable, high-quality readings
• about listening to ultrasound, and capturing and interpreting waveforms and spectra
• about how to set up software systems, including the naming of assets
• about impacts, friction, turbulence, cavitation, arcing, tracking, corona, and partial discharge
• how it can be used to detect faults in bearings, electrical systems, steam traps, valves, hydraulic equipment, pumps, compressors, and other equipment
• about how hydraulics, electrical systems, steam systems, compressors, bearings, pumps, valves, steam traps and other components work – all with vivid, realistic 3D animations
• how to correctly lubricate bearings: not too much, not too little
• how to collect data and perform tests safely
• how to generate reports that will provide people with the information they really need

There are so many benefits to becoming certified:

• You should be recognized for your achievements; not everyone is up to the challenge of understanding ultrasound, let alone successfully collecting data, diagnosing a wide range of fault conditions, and using it to save your organization a great deal of money
• Being certified by an accredited certification organization is a major step up from simply passing a test. Yes, the process is a little more complicated and stricter, but that is for very good reasons
• The educational process is extremely valuable, but being certified tells an employer (or a consulting client) that you are capable of doing an important job

Mobius Institute has certified more condition monitoring specialists than any other organization and we have only been offering certification since 2005. Almost 40,000 vibration analysts around the world chose Mobius Institute, and we are sure ultrasound specialists will too.

You will receive a digitally encrypted certificate, an ID card, and a personalized logo that you should use in email signatures and elsewhere that you want people to know about your achievements.

All you need is a desire to learn and to succeed in your field. In order to be certified you must:

• Complete the training (at a public course, on-site, or on-line)
• Achieve 70% or higher on the exam (60 multiple choice questions)
• Have six months experience
• Pass a hearing test

If you do not have the experience, you will still receive a certificate, but you will not be officially certified. When you pass the six-month milestone, you will be upgraded to full certification.

You can learn more about the certification process here.

Here are the main topics covered on the UCAT-I course:

• Maintenance practices
  • Reactive, preventive, condition-based, proactive
  • How to decide between them
• Condition monitoring
  • Why it works
  • Vibration, infrared, oil analysis, wear particle analysis, and electric motor testing
  • Detecting faults, root causes, and quality control
  • Acceptance testing
• Principles of sound
  • What is sound, sound waves, and sine waves
  • Frequency, pitch, period, wavelength
  • Acoustic impedance, reflection, and transmission with different media (materials)
  • The inverse distance rule
• The application of ultrasound
  • Friction, turbulence, impacting, arcing, tracking, corona
• Ultrasound measurement
  • Heterodyning
  • The decibel dB scale
  • Metrics: RMS, Peak, crest factor, and Kurtosis
  • Listening versus measuring
  • Severity determination
• Collecting test data
  • Safety precautions
  • Sensor types: contact vs non-contact, magnets, horns, parabolic dishes
  • Collecting good data
  • Sensitivity validation
  • Repeatability
  • Sensor positioning
  • Shielding and competing ultrasound sources
  • Waveforms and spectra
• Data storage and management
  • Setting up a good database
  • ISO 14224 as a guide
• Leak detection
  • Steam systems
  • Compressed air systems and gas
  • Pressurized systems and systems under vacuum
  • Leak detection
  • Tightness testing
• Electrical testing
  • Safety precautions
  • Corona, arcing, tracking
  • Partial discharge
• Lubrication
  • Concerns with traditional methods
  • On-condition lubrication
  • Avoiding over-greasing or under-greasing
• Testing different assets types
  • Valves, steam traps, bearings (low speed and high speed), compressors, pumps, hydraulic systems
  • A detailed explanation of all the above equipment and their failure modes
• Report generation
  • Providing actionable information
• Case studies
  • Many case studies are presented throughout the course