This paper present a new X-raybackscattertechnique(XBT)fornon-destructiveimagingofaerospace
materials withonlyasingle-sidedaccess.Itusesaspecialtwistedslitcollimatortoinspectthewhole
object bychangingtheviewingdirectionoftheX-raybackscattercamera.Forthe first time,theX-ray
backscatter measurementswereconductedusinghigh-energy(4500keV)X-raysources.Experiments
wereperformedonthickcomplexstructuredaluminiumcomponents,stringersandhoneycomb
structures tovalidatetheapplicabilityofthepresenttechniquetoimagesmallchangesinthematerial
properties andalsotodetectlow-densitymaterialinclusions.Inordertoreducetheinspectiontime
from hourstoseveralsecondsandtoimprovetheimagequalityoftheX-raybackscatterimage,the
backscatteredsignalsweremeasuredusingadigitaldetectorarraywithhighspatialresolution(200 mm).
The influence oftheenergyoftheX-raysourceandtheslitwidthofthecameraontheX-raybackscatter
image werealsoinvestigated.Intheproposedtechnique,thewholeobjectisirradiatedbyanun-
collimated X-raybeamresultinginalowimageacquisitiontimeof3minthatfacilitatestheuseofXBT
for therealtimeNDT&Eofaerospacematerials.