TSU scientists learn to find cracks in aircraft glass using holography

TOMSK, Feb 17 – RIA Tomsk. Scientists of Tomsk State University (TSU) have found a new, more reliable and simpler way to search for microdamages in aircraft windows than are used now – digital particle holography; this method allows finding the exact location of microcracks without removing the window from the aircraft, the press service of the university said on Wednesday.

Flight safety largely depends on the state of the aircraft glazing. The reason for the decrease in glass strength is the appearance of the smallest microcracks. Now, for inspection, glass is either examined with magnifiers and prisms directly on board, but with this method of checking microcracks cannot be noticed, or the glass is pulled out of the structure in order to later examine it with a laser.

"Digital holography makes it possible to determine the transverse and longitudinal dimensions of each glazing surface defect separately with a predetermined accuracy. This makes it possible, without removing the glass from the aircraft, to identify areas with cracks, the dimensions of which exceed the tolerances for safe operation", – research engineer of the TSU Faculty of Radiophysics Nikolay Yudin is quoted in the message.

It is specified that at this stage there is a search for improving the accuracy of the method and its most ergonomic implementation. Implementation this technology in the process of preflight preparation of aircraft requires the development of an appropriate camera design and software with an intuitive interface.

"Now digital holographic cameras are industrially produced by the Laboratory of Optical Crystals company for crystallography and monitoring of marine plankton. These cameras can also be used for solving problems of flaw detection of aircraft glazing", – is said in the report.

The project is implemented in partnership with colleagues from the Research Center of the Central Scientific Research Institute of the Air Force of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Military Training and Scientific Center of the Air Force "Air Force Academy" named after Nikolai Zhukovsky and Yuri Gagarin (Voronezh), OOO Laboratory of Optical Crystals, "Laboratory of Optical Crystals" LLC, IAO SB RAS, (Tomsk).