TOMSK, September 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russian scientists will create the first in Russia portable thermal flaw detector by 2015, the device will be able to find hidden defects on the airplanes panels, Vladimir Vavilov, professor of the Tomsk Polytechnic University, told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
"The matter concerns the defects in the panels made of coal-plastic – fuselages, ailerons, wing flaps, rudders – hit by luggage during the loading, by birds, hailing and other reasons alike," Vavilov said, adding that sometimes these defects cannot be noticed simply by examining the panel's surface, as they tend to "get inside" the material posing danger to the further exploitation of a plane. "We offer a new way to find defects," Vavilov said, explaining that currently such defects are being find with the use of the ultrasonic method.
Vavilov sad that the scientists will also develop the software for similar foreign devices on commission of the Airbus aircraft manufacturer.
The budget of the joint project is 14 million rubles (about $363,000), one half of it will come from the Tomsk Polytechnic University while the second half will be paid by the Airbus.
According to Vavilov, in the late 1980s the scientists, working at the Tomsk Polytechnic University, received a soviet patent for application of the principle of thermal tomography and that currently the University is working on a new type of device, which will be able to find the hidden defects in the composite materials used in aircraft manufacturing.
The scientist has emphasized that the new method is safe for the personell and ensures high productivity of the tests.
