Southampton scanning system will detect composite aircraft flaws

Led by Qinetiq, the UK consortium of Southampton University and University College London (UCL) and four companies in ProjectCAN brings together experts from academia, the aerospace industry and X-ray inspection equipment manufacture.

As part of the government’s Aerospace Technology Institute, Innovate UK has provided the team with funding to develop two new non-destructive testing processes for the detection of flaws in composite aerospace components.

According to a statement, Southampton University’s µ-VIS Centre for Computed Tomography is host to one part of this three-year project. Together with Nikon Metrology UK, it aims to develop and test methods for scanning and visualising the insides of large, flat components using X-rays. The partners will develop the system for acquiring scan data and software to reconstruct it into a 3D volume image, allowing manipulation and visualisation using standard software.

‘Conventional computed tomography (CT) techniques are widely used but are not well suited to image extended flat objects,’ said Dr Thomas Blumensath of Southampton University. ‘We will be developing an alternative technique, which applies computed laminography (CL) techniques, to overcome the limitations of conventional CT for large, flat components. This will enhance our ability to find defects in large composite parts, such as those which are increasingly used in modern aircraft.