| dc.description.abstract | Aircraft outer shell is coated with a corrosion resistant layer because its alloy does
not possess sufficient intrinsic resistance to wear and corrosion. Impacts by small
particles or large objects such as bird strikes can lead to damage the coated surface
inducing surface defects. Micro cracks initiated due to surface damages create stress
concentration zones which could lead to catastrophic failure of the aircraft due to
fatigue crack formation. Therefore, the importance of regular inspection of surface
coating is highlighted. Visual inspection is widely used for surface damage
identification, but manual procedures with the bare eye are time-consuming and
lead to human errors. Effective automation of the inspection can be considered a
viable solution. The aim of this project was to develop an automated inspection
system based on non-contact, non-destructive Infrared Thermography to identify
defects on an aircraft’s surface coating. The system developed was a two-axis gantry
attached to a four-wheel structure equipped with a tiltable thermal camera
assembly and a control panel. The inspection method follows a sequence – Firstly,
thermal image capturing, secondly image processing and identifying the defective
area, and thirdly, giving a signal to the operator if a defect is present. The system
was tested on a significant dataset, and its capability of detecting surface defects on
an aircraft’s coating was demonstrated. The results suggest an automated
thermographic inspection system for surface coating defects on aircrafts can
successfully replace visual inspection leading to a 9.25 % increase in efficiency
minimizing its inherent disadvantages. | en_US |
