Shearography non-destructive inspection for space applications

In this work, we will explore the feasibility of a (FEM-assisted) shearography non-destructive inspection for space structures like the International Space Station. We aim at pushing this technique towards passive inspection to eliminate the power-demanding excitation by leveraging natural excitations as orbital sunrises or internal pressure changes. A concept prototype will be developed for ground laboratory tests, specifically tailored for space applications. This is the first step towards our long-term goal of developing a shearography instrument capable of autonomously inspecting space structures, integrated into a robotic manipulator alongside other NDI solutions, such as thermography. The value of shearography is in the mechanically interpretable results that can support predictive assessments like residual life estimation. This research is performed as part of the ESA OSIP ShearScope project (No. 4000148089).