| dc.description.abstract | Abstract : The 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 to 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, nondestructive 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
the sequence; Firstly, thermal image capturing.
Next, image processing and identifying the
defect area. 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 aircraft fuselage
can successfully replace visual inspection
leading to a 9.25 % increase in efficiency and
minimizing its inherent disadvantages. | en_US |
