X-ray shielding system and shielded digital radiographic inspection system and method

A shielded digital radiographic inspection system comprising:

• an x-ray source;
• a beam controller surrounding said x-ray source, said beam controller including a source shield and an aperture, said beam controller being configured to rotate said aperture around said x-ray source;
• a digital x-ray detector positioned radially outward from said x-ray source and facing said aperture, wherein said digital x-ray detector is configured to be movable along an orbit around said x-ray source;
• and
• a detector shield configured to be movable with said digital x-ray detector and positioned behind said digital x-ray detector.

A shielded digital radiographic inspection method for imaging an aircraft component, said inspection method comprising:

• surrounding an x-ray source with a beam controller to produce a collimated x-ray beam through an aperture of the beam controller;
• shielding a back side of a digital x-ray detector to reduce x-ray flux behind the digital x-ray detector, the digital x-ray detector being positioned radially outward from the x-ray source, outside the aircraft component, and facing the aperture;
• imaging a portion of the aircraft component, said imaging including activating the x-ray source and collecting an image with the digital x-ray detector;
• rotating the aperture around the x-ray source to a subsequent aperture orientation;
• and
• moving the digital x-ray detector along an orbit around the x-ray source to a subsequent detector position facing the aperture,
• wherein said rotation of the aperture, said motion of the digital x-ray detector, and said imaging are repeated for a plurality of aperture orientations and detector positions to obtain a plurality of images of an annular portion of the aircraft component.