ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | MAY 2026 23 The aerospace industry continues to push the limits of structural performance through the use of increasingly advanced materials, complex geometries, and lightweightdesign strategies. Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP), bonded composite assemblies, aluminum alloys, friction stir welds, and hybrid metal-composite structures are now common in today’s aircraft. These materials enable significant improvements in strengthto-weight ratios and fuel efficiency—but they also introduce new challenges for nondestructive testing (NDT). As aircraft move through their lifecycle, from raw material verification and component manufacturing to final assembly and in-service maintenance, NDT plays a critical role in ensuring structural integrity and TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT PUSHING THE LIMITS: CUTTING-EDGE AIRCRAFT MATERIALS DEMAND NEW APPROACHES TO NDT INSPECTION Phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) is advancing and expanding to support both manufacturing and maintenance environments. spectrum of potential issues, including corrosion, fatigue cracking, delamination, disbonding, porosity, and thickness variations in both metallic and composite structures. operational safety. Inspectors must evaluate a broad range of materials and structural configurations, often using multiple inspection techniques. NDT technologies can address a wide Across aluminum alloys, CFRP, and hybrid structures, today’s aerospace inspectors need to work throughout the entire aircraft lifecycle, understand multiple NDT methods, and adapt to a variety of materials and defect types.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTYyMzk3NQ==