A small (20 kWth), safe, pool-type nuclear research reactor called the SLOWPOKE-2 is located at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). The reactor was originally installed for teaching, training, research and semi-routine analysis, specifically, neutron activation analysis. It was envisioned that the neutrons from the SLOWPOKE-2 could also be used for neutron radiography, and so a research program was initiated to develop this technology. Over a period of approximately 15 years, and through a series of successive modifications, a neutron radiography system (NRS) was developed. Once completed, several applications of the technology have been demonstrated, including the non-destructive examination of the composite flight control surfaces from the Canadian Air Force's primary jet fighter, the CF 188 Hornet aircraft. An initial trial was set up to investigate the flight control surfaces of 3 aircraft, to determine the parameters for a final licensed system, and to compare the results to other non-destructive methods. Over 500 neutron radiographs were made for these first 3 aircraft, and moisture and corrosion were discovered in the honeycomb structure and hydration was found in the composite and adhesive layers. In comparison with other NDT methods, neutron radiography was the only method that could detect the small areas of corrosion and moisture entrapment. However, before examining an additional 7 aircraft, the recommended modifications to the NRS were undertaken. These modifications were necessary to accommodate the larger flight control surfaces safely by incorporating flexible conformable shielding. As well, to expedite inspections so that all flight control surfaces from one aircraft could be completed in less than two weeks, there was a need to decrease the exposure time by both faster film/conversion screen combinations and by incorporating the capability of near real-time, digital radioscopy. Finally, as there are no inspection specific image quality indicators, there was also a need to develop a gauge to evaluate the moisture trapped in the honeycomb cells of flight control surfaces.
Neutron radiography of aircraft composite flight control surfaces
Neutronenradiographie von Steuerwerk-Flugzeugbauteilen
2002
7 Seiten, 7 Bilder, 3 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Datenträger
Englisch
Neutron radiography of aircraft composite flight control surfaces
Tema Archiv | 2001
|Neutron radiography of aircraft composite flight control surfaces
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|Neutron radiography of aircraft components using mobile neutron radiography system
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|Neutron radioscopy inspection of composite flight control surfaces
Tema Archiv | 2001
|Detecting corrosion in aircraft components using neutron radiography
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