Non destructive evaluation of advanced composite materials for aerospace application using HTS SQUIDs

The main advantage of a HTS SQUID magnetometer in NDE applications is represented by its unrivalled magnetic flux sensitivity down to very low frequencies, which allows the detection of weak magnetic field variations due to defects also in materials characterized by a very low electrical conductivity. The imaging obtained by means of the magnetic flux variations can be an useful technique for an easier interpretation of SQUID magnetic responses getting along without post-processing algorithms and independent of the operator. Therefore, the SQUIDs NDE system output is compatible with the other conventional non destructive testing equipment for data fusion of aircraft inspections.