Nondestructive Inspection for Aircraft Fatigue Damage

There is a need in Air Force to inspect for fatigue cracks in multi-layer metallic structures in an aging aircraft. High resolution, high accuracy imaging and easy operation are key characteristics required in developing new NDE technology for evaluating large objects. Current x-ray backscattering technology (XBT) is not adequate to provide satisfactory results for Air Force's mission. A revolutionary approach is needed. In this proposal, Boston Applied Technologies Incorporated (BATI) proposes a low cost and high performance solution by developing a Flash X-ray Backscatter NDE system to solve the problems current XBT systems are suffering from. In the approach several innovative techniques will be implemented. The proposed technology will be able to deliver much higher x-ray peak power for NDE with higher signal to noise ratio, however, consumes much less power (resource) to perform the duty. Therefore, it is a superior solution for NDE. We believe the proposed system will have great performance and provide an ultimate solution to Air Force's aircraft health management mission, as well as to many other applications including industrial and medical, and homeland security applications.