Portable High Resolution Imaging for NDI of Hot Section Aero Turbine Components

New technology is needed for the nondestructive inspection (NDI) of defects in gas turbine engines. This is particularly true for components such as turbine blades with fretting fatigue defects that are difficult to detect and characterize with existing NDI equipment. The lack of detailed flaw detection and characterization raises safety concerns, hampers fleet readiness and negatively impacts the life of hot section components. RMD, in collaboration with the Electrical Engineering Department at Northeastern University, proposes a new NDI technology based on high resolution, 3-D imaging of eddy currents induced in metallic jet engine components to characterize microscopic fatigue cracks. A portable high resolution imager for magnetic fields will be developed based on a microscopic anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) sensor. With sensitivity nearly 1 million times better than the coils now used as eddy current sensors, the NDI system will be used to detect and map the dimensions and positions of microscopic defects in metallic components. RMD and NEU have broad experience in AMR sensor development, model based design of NDI systems, and development and manufacture of sophisticated sensor systems.