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UK university to create imaging technology for aircraft

05 Feb '15

2 min read

The University of Southampton is helping to develop new imaging technology to be used in the design, manufacture, and maintenance for current and future generations of carbon composite aircraft.

World leaders from academia, the aerospace industry, and X-ray inspection equipment manufacturers from the UK consortium of the University of Southampton and University College London (UCL), and four companies in ProjectCAN, are working together for this project.

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

Together with Nikon Metrology UK, the University of Southampton aims to develop and test methods for scanning and visualising the insides of large, flat components using X-rays. The partners will develop both the system for acquiring scan data and software to reconstruct it into a 3-D volume image, allowing manipulation and visualisation using standard software, according to a press release.

Dr Thomas Blumensath from the University of Southampton said, “Conventional computed tomography (CT) techniques are widely used but are not well suited to image extended flat objects. 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.”

“This will ultimately help in the production and maintenance processes and will assist in the development of more environmentally-friendly aeroplanes, as well as enhanced overall aircraft safety,” he added. (GK)

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