Phase Contrast X-Ray Imaging: new aircraft inspection methodology to reduce fuel plus production and maintenance costs Composite materials are widely used in manufacturing of critical components for aircraft safety. The EU project EVITA made full use of these materials for aircraft manufacturing and repair in order to assist engineers in managing the quality of their components and processes. Climate Change and Environment © Ana Maria Madrigal The aircraft industry requires that ultralight composite structures are supported by non-destructive inspection solutions that will make them more reliable, efficient and safer to use. Improved detection of critical defects in primary, complex and safety-critical aircraft structures will lead to better quality control during the whole life cycle of the structure (from design and manufacturing to assembly and repair). To address this need, the EU-funded EVITA (Non-destructive evaluation, inspection and testing of primary aeronautical composite structures using phase contrast X-ray imaging) project developed an innovative non-destructive inspection (NDI) methodology that quickly and accurately detects flaws (e.g. micro-cracks and porosity) in these structures. The project started with the revision of the design, manufacture, assembly and repair procedures that are applicable to components made of composite materials in order to determine the most common defects in each process of the composite component life-cycle. A selection of specimens with artificially induced flaws was made and subsequently manufactured. The EVITA team then designed, developed and manufactured a grating-based phase contrast X-ray imaging demonstrator. The demonstrator was used to validate and benchmark the proposed methodology against industrial standard NDI methods. The results of the benchmark were assessed against a set of parameters (e.g. detection sensitivity, inspection speed, ability to inspect thick composite structures…). In terms of detectability, the new methodology fulfils most of the requirements, to an equivalent level with Phase Array Ultrasonic Pulse Echo although it is much more sensitive to cracks and porosity. To sum up, EVITA has introduced a new NDI methodology which allows an economical and environmentally friendly use of composites without compromising on safety. Manufacturers stand to benefit from reduced production, maintenance and operation costs, while citizens will have cleaner and safer skies. Keywords Aircraft, inspection technology, manufacturing, EVITA, composite structures, non-destructive testing
