Researchers from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Center of Composite Materials have developed soft magnetic circuits that provide a non-contact method of measuring the internal stresses of composite materials used in aerospace and aircraft engineering.

The team’s findings, published in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds, describes amorphous soft magnetic circuits measuring 10-60 microns in diameter, which are wired into the layers of carbon fibre in materials during the manufacturing stage to form a grid of stress-sensitive points.

“It is now possible to more effectively assess the degree of internal damages during the operation of aircraft parts, oil pipelines, ship hulls, and other industrial and transport facilities,” said NUST scientist Alevtina Chernikova.