Objective
Objectives and content
Non-destructive inspection requirements can have a large impact on aircraft and operation cost. This calls for efficient NDT methods, that do not require long down times for in-service inspections, and are fast and reliable for production inspection. No single method can fulfil all requirements. In addition, an approach using knowledge based diagnosis systems will offer increased inspection reliability.
It is therefore proposed to further develop and apply the NDT techniques that are most promising for the aeronautical industry focussing on 3 distinctive problem areas:
- Reliable inspection methods for ageing aircraft
- Fast non-contact NDT methods for production inspection
-Rapid full field methods for in service inspection of advanced materials
Cost reduction in production and in-service inspection sets the industrial project objectives:
- Improved reliability of crack and corrosion detection by an eddy current expert system.
- Improved production inspection and faster corrosion mapping by advanced thermography.
- Improvement of inspection speed for complex shaped parts. - Simultaneous detection of cracks and disbonds
- Faster production inspection by applying a novel multi-camera shearography system.
- Reduced inspection times by developing and applying a real-time X-ray expert system.
- Specification of a knowledge based NDT diagnosis system
This project proposal can partly be considered as exploitation of the results of the successfully running project BE-5879: "NDT-NDE for maintenance of structural parts". New subjects are laser ultrasonics, thermography and Lamb wave application of air-coupled ultrasound for reducing inspection cost and the introduction of expert systems to improve sensitivity, objectivity and reliability.
The project research is targeted towards solving today's ageing aircraft inspection problems, reducing production cost by improving inspection procedures and considering the in-service inspection problems expected to arise in the near future. For each task, the research is structured to firstly define industrial problem cases, secondly investigate several potential technical solutions and finally evaluate the developed methods on real aircraft parts. A separate task dealing with data fusion and diagnosis aims at integrating several techniques and using expert systems for analysis and diagnosis.
The partnership consists of all major European aircraft manufacturers, all acting as developers and end-users. The industrial partnership has also ensured the cooperation of European knowledge centers in the NDT field, performing specific research tasks. Some small, highly specialized companies, active in development of NDT equipment, complete the partnership.
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
78141 Véiizy-villacoublay
France
Participants (14)
21017 Cascina Costa Di Samarate Varese
80038 Pomigliano D'arco
PR4 1AX Preston
12205 Berlin
77183 Croisy-beaubourg
581 13 Linkoeping
81043 Napoli - Capua
28906 Getafe - Madrid
75781 Paris
81663 München
31770 Béti Colomiers
2600 GA Delft
G1 1QE Glasgow
751 21 Uppsala
