TY - JOUR A1 - Kolkoori, Sanjeevareddy A1 - Wrobel, Norma A1 - Zscherpel, Uwe A1 - Ewert, Uwe T1 - A new X-ray backscatter imaging technique for non-destructive testing of aerospace materials JF - NDT & E international N2 - This paper presents a new X-ray backscatter technique (XBT) for non-destructive imaging of aerospace materials with only a single-sided access. It uses a special twisted slit collimator to inspect the whole object by changing the viewing direction of the X-ray backscatter camera. For the first time, the X-ray backscatter measurements were conducted using high-energy (>500 keV) X-ray sources. Experiments were performed on thick complex structured aluminium components, stringers and honeycomb structures to validate the applicability of the present technique to image small changes in the material properties and also to detect low-density material inclusions. In order to reduce the inspection time from hours to several seconds and to improve the image quality of the X-ray backscatter image, the backscattered signals were measured using a digital detector array with high spatial resolution (200 µm). The influence of the energy of the X-ray source and the slit width of the camera on the X-ray backscatter image were also investigated. In the proposed technique, the whole object is irradiated by an un-collimated X-ray beam resulting in a low image acquisition time of 3 min that facilitates the use of XBT for the real time NDT&E of aerospace materials. KW - X-ray backscatter imaging KW - Digital radiography KW - Digital detector array KW - Non-destructive evaluation KW - Aerospace applications PY - 2015 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2014.09.008 SN - 0963-8695 VL - 70 SP - 41 EP - 52 PB - Butterworth-Heinemann CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-32515 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -