Aircraft wheels are put through aggressive and cyclic NDT inspection protocol and the wheel’s potential for failure has led manufacturers to require various repetitive inspections at regular intervals.

The eddy current scanning solution that was developed for hard to access HPCR spool areas represents a reliable inspection platform that produced repeatable results.

Eddy current technology is evolving with improved detection of both surface and subsurface flaws along with defining critical material attributes.

The continuous ground-breaking advances in the aerospace industry put more and more pressure on nondestructive testing (NDT) equipment manufacturers to be proactively solving new inspection challenges. As such, the recent advances in eddy current array (ECA) have considerably expanded the range of components and assets that can be inspected for surface and near-surface flaws.

Over the last few years, PEC has been developed and improved for much more productive and reliable inspection of a wider range of components. Because of these new developments, PEC is a very cost-effective option for the corrosion screening of several components while in service.

UniWest announced the introduction of the new EddyView® II portable eddy current flaw detector at the ASNT Annual 2022 Conference on October 31, 2022.

In production, every aircraft structure component will undergo inspection by one of the primary NDT methods. In-service aircraft will experience subsequent nondestructive testing, eddy current inspection being one the primary methods. This article serves to highlight the more common forms of eddy current applications on in-service aircraft.

Nondestructive testing methods range from simple manual and visual techniques to sophisticated eddy current and ultrasound technologies that can be used for spot-checks or incorporated right into the production line.

To a qualified and well-equipped nondestructive testing technician, few inspections present an insurmountable technical hurdle. Technicians have a range of testing methods at their disposal, from sophisticated ultrasound and eddy current technologies to manual processes like liquid penetrant.