Browsing by Author "Pant, Shashank"

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    Data supporting: 'Development of a thermal excitation source used in an active thermographic UAV platform'
    (Cranfield University, 2022-08-31 16:49) Deane, Shakeb; Tsourdos, Antonios; Avdelidis, Nico; Zolotas, Argyrios; P. V. Maldague, Xavier; Ibarra-Castanedo, Clemente; Genest, Marc; Pant, Shashank; Williamson, Alex; Withers, Stephen; Ahmadi, Mohammadali
    This work aims to address the effectivenessand challenges of using active infrared thermography (IRT) on-board an unmannedaerial vehicle (UAV) platform. The work seeks to assess the performance ofsmall low powered forms of excitation which are suitable for activethermography and the ability to locate subsurface defects on composites. Anexcitation source in the form of multiple 250 W lamps are mounted onto a UAVand are solely battery powered with a remote trigger to power cycle them.Multiple experiments address the interference from the UAV whilst performing anactive IRT inspection. The optimal distances and time required for a UAV inspection using IRT is calculated. Multiple signal processing techniques areused to analyse the composites which helps locate the sub-surface defects. It was observedthat a UAV can successfully carry the required sensors and equipment for anActive thermographic NDT inspection which can provide access to difficult areas. Most active thermographic inspection equipment is large, heavy, and expensive. Furthermore, using such equipment for inspection of complexstructures is time-consuming. For example, a cherry picker would be required toinspect the tail of an aircraft. This solution looks to assist engineersinspecting complex composite structures and could potentially significantly reduce the time and cost of a routine inspection.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Development of a thermal excitation source used in an active thermographic UAV platform
    (Taylor & Francis, 2022-06-03) Deane, Shakeb; Avdelidis, Nicolas Peter; Ibarra-Castanedo, Clemente; Williamson, Alex A.; Withers, Stephen; Zolotas, Argyrios; Maldague, Xavier P. V.; Ahmadi, Mohammad; Pant, Shashank; Genest, Marc; Rabearivelo, Hobivola A.; Tsourdos, Antonios
    This work aims to address the effectiveness and challenges of using active infrared thermography (IRT) onboard an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform. The work seeks to assess the performance of small low-powered forms of excitation which are suitable for active thermography and the ability to locate subsurface defects on composites. An excitation source in multiple 250 W lamps is mounted onto a UAV and is solely battery powered with a remote trigger to power cycle them. Multiple experiments address the interference from the UAV whilst performing an active IRT inspection. The optimal distances and time required for a UAV inspection using IRT are calculated. Multiple signal processing techniques are used to analyse the composites which help locate the sub-surface defects. It was observed that a UAV can successfully carry the required sensors and equipment for an Active thermographic NDT inspection which can provide access to difficult areas. Most active thermographic inspection equipment is large, heavy, and expensive. Furthermore, using such equipment for the inspection of complex structures is time-consuming. For example, a cherry picker would be required to inspect the tail of an aircraft. This solution looks to assist engineers in inspecting complex composite structures and could potentially significantly reduce the time and cost of a routine inspection.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Diagnosis of composite materials in aircraft applications: towards a UAV active thermography inspection approach
    (Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), 2021-04-12) Alhammad, Muflih; Avdelidis, Nicolas Peter; Deane, Shakeb; Ibarra-Castanedo, Clemente; Pant, Shashank; Nooralishahi, Parham; Ahmadi, Mohammad; Genest, Marc; Zolotas, Argyrios; Zanotti Fragonara, Luca; Valdes, Julio J.; Maldague, Xavier P. V.
    Diagnosis and prognosis of failures for aircrafts’ integrity are some of the most important regular functionalities in complex and safety-critical aircraft structures. Further, development of failure diagnostic tools such as Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques, in particular, for aircraft composite materials, has been seen as a subject of intensive research over the last decades. The need for diagnostic and prognostic tools for composite materials in aircraft applications rises and draws increasing attention. Yet, there is still an ongoing need for developing new failure diagnostic tools to respond to the rapid industrial development and complex machine design. Such tools will ease the early detection and isolation of developing defects and the prediction of damages propagation; thus allowing for early implementation of preventive maintenance and serve as a countermeasure to the potential of catastrophic failure. This paper provides a brief literature review of recent research on failure diagnosis of composite materials with an emphasis on the use of active thermography techniques in the aerospace industry. Furthermore, as the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the remote inspection of large and/or difficult access areas has significantly grown in the last few years thanks to their flexibility of flight and to the possibility to carry one or several measuring sensors, the aim to use a UAV active thermography system for the inspection of large composite aeronautical structures in a continuous dynamic mode is proposed.
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    Drone-based non-destructive inspection of industrial sites: a review and case studies
    (MDPI, 2021-09-29) Nooralishahi, Parham; Ibarra-Castanedo, Clemente; Deane, Shakeb; López, Fernando; Pant, Shashank; Genest, Marc; Avdelidis, Nicolas Peter; Maldague, Xavier P. V.
    Using aerial platforms for Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) of large and complex structures is a growing field of interest in various industries. Infrastructures such as: buildings, bridges, oil and gas, etc. refineries require regular and extensive inspections. The inspection reports are used to plan and perform required maintenance, ensuring their structural health and the safety of the workers. However, performing these inspections can be challenging due to the size of the facility, the lack of easy access, the health risks for the inspectors, or several other reasons, which has convinced companies to invest more in drones as an alternative solution to overcome these challenges. The autonomous nature of drones can assist companies in reducing inspection time and cost. Moreover, the employment of drones can lower the number of required personnel for inspection and can increase personnel safety. Finally, drones can provide a safe and reliable solution for inspecting hard-to-reach or hazardous areas. Despite the recent developments in drone-based NDI to reliably detect defects, several limitations and challenges still need to be addressed. In this paper, a brief review of the history of unmanned aerial vehicles, along with a comprehensive review of studies focused on UAV-based NDI of industrial and commercial facilities, are provided. Moreover, the benefits of using drones in inspections as an alternative to conventional methods are discussed, along with the challenges and open problems of employing drones in industrial inspections, are explored. Finally, some of our case studies conducted in different industrial fields in the field of Non-Destructive Inspection are presented.
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    Evaluation and selection of video stabilization techniques for UAV-based active infrared thermography application
    (MDPI, 2021-02-25) Pant, Shashank; Nooralishahi, Parham; Avdelidis, Nicolas Peter; Ibarra-Castanedo, Clemente; Genest, Marc; Deane, Shakeb; Valdes, Julio J.; Zolotas, Argyrios; Maldague, Xavier P. V.
    nmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that can fly around an aircraft carrying several sensors, e.g., thermal and optical cameras, to inspect the parts of interest without removing them can have significant impact in reducing inspection time and cost. One of the main challenges in the UAV based active InfraRed Thermography (IRT) inspection is the UAV’s unexpected motions. Since active thermography is mainly concerned with the analysis of thermal sequences, unexpected motions can disturb the thermal profiling and cause data misinterpretation especially for providing an automated process pipeline of such inspections. Additionally, in the scenarios where post-analysis is intended to be applied by an inspector, the UAV’s unexpected motions can increase the risk of human error, data misinterpretation, and incorrect characterization of possible defects. Therefore, post-processing is required to minimize/eliminate such undesired motions using digital video stabilization techniques. There are number of video stabilization algorithms that are readily available; however, selecting the best suited one is also challenging. Therefore, this paper evaluates video stabilization algorithms to minimize/mitigate undesired UAV motion and proposes a simple method to find the best suited stabilization algorithm as a fundamental first step towards a fully operational UAV-IRT inspection system.