High Resolution Corrosion Mapping via In-Situ White Light Interferometry for Complex Geometries

Corrosion damage costs the Navy time and money by requiring critical components to be monitored for fatigue on a scheduled basis rather than by need. When quantitative analysis of corrosion data is obtained, lifetime models and corresponding depot level re-work can be planned appropriately while maintaining fleet readiness. White light interferometry (WLI) uses white light interference patterns to determine surface features with vertical nanometer resolution. WLI has been shown to provide pitting and surface depth erosion of corroded structures. Luna Innovations Incorporated proposes to develop a conceptual design for a portable WLI that is capable of measuring the inside diameter of shafts and other complex geometries of mission critical structural components via three approaches 1) improve the situation awareness of the optical head to improve the accuracy of portable image acquisition, 2) utilize software programming to analyze a region of interest to reduce sampling time and file size and 3) a novel optic design to measure fillets and other high slope regions. It is anticipated that the conceptual prototype will be built and demonstrate a design that is simple to employ with improved resolution.