Comparison of neutron radiography with other non-destructive techniques for the inspection of CF188 flight control surfaces

Abstract

Neutron radiography, utilizing either film or a CCD camera, has been previously used to identify water ingress within the composite layers and the aluminum honeycomb core of flight control surfaces on the CF188 Hornet aircraft . Through transmission ultrasonics, X-radiography and infrared imaging have also been utilized to identify the presence of water in these components. At present, infrared imaging of the flight control surfaces is routinely carried out as a field-level inspection, but a quantitative validation of the results had not previously been conducted. Although infrared imaging is a simple, nonintrusive and inexpensive method of inspection, neutron radiography is recognized as the most accurate method for indicating and quantifying the presence of water in the flight control surfaces. A quantitative comparison was recently carried out using CF188 rudders to validate the results of various nondestructive techniques relative to neutron radiography.