The use of composite materials in aerospace manufacture is accelerating fast, with the most modern aircraft in the world's fleet now more than 50% composite materials. These new-generation aeroplanes are lighter, more fuel-efficient, and so more profitable, as well as significantly reducing CO2 emissions compared to traditional aluminium planes. However, composite materials are much more expensive to produce, partly because they are not yet as well-understood as metals, so the industry spends millions every year slowly inspecting each part for flaws before it is deemed safe enough to take its place in an aircraft, and inspecting composite components is not easy.
Carbon fibre composite is in many ways an ideal material for aerospace construction, being less dense than aluminium, with a greater stiffness-to-weight ratio. It does not corrode and it is less susceptible to fatigue. Carbon fibre components can be moulded directly into their required geometry, reducing the need for vulnerable bonded areas. But there is also the possibility of introducing weakened areas when constructing the material itself - fibres can break or move out of alignment, layers can separate, gaps can open up, and this can all happen invisibly, deep within the internal structure of the material, weakening it and leading to unexpected failure.
Manufacturers need techniques to inspect the internal structure of their carbon fibre components and CFLUX is designed to do just that. The inspiration comes from traditional eddy current non-destructive testing techniques that have been used for aluminium aircraft. These are fast and effective for finding hidden flaws but rely on the good conductivity of metals. Carbon fibre is 1000 times less conductive than aluminium, making eddy current testing impossible, until now.
The CFLUX consortium have developed innovative sensor technology that can give sensitivities 1000 times greater than before, retrieving high-quality, high-resolution signals that were previously unachievable. Not only that, but this technology is tiny, making it easy to develop into multi-sensor arrays that are resilient, flexible and ideal for use in the production-line robotics necessary to really speed up and reduce the cost of the inspection process.
Robotic inspections using CFLUX are expected to be more than 30 times faster than current processes, reducing inspection costs from £1,292 to just £72 for a single 34m2 composite component. This supports the aerospace industry in its drive for safe aircraft that are lighter, more cost-efficient, and have a reduced impact on our environment.
We propose a project to look at the feasibility of producing highly miniaturised magnetic sensors which have the advantage of integrated ancillary electronics on a Compound Semiconductor (CS) millimetre scale chip solution. One concept will aim to converge advances in CS electronics with a novel Quantum Well Hall Effect (QWHE) magnetic sensor, combined monolithically on a GaAs based material platform. The resulting Magnetic Integrated Circuit (MAG IC) has the potential to have a large dynamic operating range, high sensitivity and ultra-compact footprint. Another concept we will investigate is the feasibility of a radically new GaN magnetic sensor which has the potential for ultra-high temperature operation, monolithic integration with GaN based electronics and scalability on Silicon and Silicon Carbide large wafer formats. The project will aim to verify whether these concepts can be manufactured in a commercially viable manner in order to challenge traditional, bulky magnetic sensing solutions such as Giant Magneto Resistance (GMR) sensors and low spec-low cost solutions such as Silicon Hall sensors. Target applications include: current sensing, embedded cable detection, high resolution metrology and magneto-imaging for medical & Non-Destructive Testing (NDT).
We propose a study to look at the feasibility of producing highly miniaturised magnetic sensors which have the advantage of integrated ancillary electronics loaded on a single millimetre scale chip solution. The technology will aim to converge advances in compound semiconductor electronics with a novel Hall Effect magnetic sensor which can be combined monolithically on a novel Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) based material platform. The resulting Magnetic Integrated Circuit (MIC) has the potential to have a large dynamic operating range, high sensitivity and ultra-compact footprint.
This feasibility study will aim to verify whether the concept can be realised in a commercially viable manner in order to challenge traditional, bulky magnetic sensing solutions such as Giant Magneto Resistance (GMR) sensors, and the higher end of established applications for Silicon Hall effect sensors. Target applications include embedded cable detection, bank note verification, high resolution metrology, magneto-imaging for medical and non-destructive testing (NDT) applications
A Hall effect sensor is a transducer that varies its output voltage in response to a magnetic field, used in a wide range of applications for proximity switching, positioning, speed detection, and current sensing. Typical Hall sensors are manufactured from silicon but are limited in terms of sensitivity and temperature operating range as a result of the fundamental material properties.
This project brings together a consortium of SMEs (Advanced Hall Sensors, Compound Semiconductor Technologies), Manchester University and a UK global metrology player, Renishaw, in order to develop a new family of industrial measurement products based on a novel material as an alternative to Silicon.
The new sensor concept uses compound semiconductor materials based on Gallium Arsenide which are engineered to use quantum effects for superior performance in real world, high-resolution metrology applications.
Awaiting project public summary.