Quantitative Analysis of the Internal Material Properties of Dome Blanks

Technology Assessment & Transfer (TA & T) is a manufacturer of optical ceramic missile dome blanks that are delivered to optical fabricators who greatly increase the value of the domes by grinding and polishing to final specifications. Current inspection methods do not assure that every dome blank is worthy of further processing by the fabricators. TA & T will develop a suite of non-destructive inspection techniques for as-fired dome blanks that will reduce overall program costs by allowing effective 100% inspection of dome blanks prior to costly machining operations. Where feasible, TA & T will also employ these methods upstream in its manufacturing process to reduce the costs of dome blanks.