Defect detection in thick aircraft lap-joint dtructures using HTS SQUID NDE

Issue title: Special Volume: Proceedings of the eleventh International Symposium on Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics ISEM-Versailles ISEM 03

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Allweins, Kai^{a; *} | Gierelt, Gertrud^a | von Kreutzbruck, Marc^a

Affiliations: [a] Institute of Applied Physics, JLU Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 16, 35392 Giessen, Germany. Tel.: +49 641 99 33451; Fax: +49 641 99 33409; E-mail: {Kai.Allweins, Gertrud.Gierelt, Marc.v.Kreutzbruck}@physik.uni-giessen.de

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author

Abstract: The choice of the NDT industry for an appropriate NDT method focuses on an optimum balance between quality control and cost effectiveness. For this reason SQUID technology, because of its higher costs and handling inconvenience, might be used only where standard NDE techniques fail to ensure sufficiently high reliability. A promising SQUID NDE application is testing of very thick aircraft lap-joint structures, where currently no standard testing method achieves satisfactory results. We present SQUID measurements of a three-layer aluminum sample of the Airbus A-380 with a total thickness of 62 mm, which resembles the planned outer wing splice of the megaliner. The combination of field sensitivities of a few pT/√Hz and a large dynamic range of about 140 dB/√Hz enables us to detect defects at a depth ranging between 30–45 mm.

Keywords: eddy current testing, HTS SQUID, FEM simulations

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2004-531

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 19, no. 1-4, pp. 29-33, 2004