IMPROVED DETECTOR TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION

HIGH-RESOLUTION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY SHOWS SIGNIFICANT PROMISE IN AIDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS WHICH ARE IMPORTANT IN IMPROVING AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE. NONDESTRUCTIVE IMAGING OF THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THESE MATERIALS CAN HELP IN IMPROVING PROCESSING QUALITY, IN DEVELOPING PERFORMANCE MODELS, AND IN EVALUATING MANUFACTURED COMPONENTS. CURRENT IMAGING PERFORMANCE COULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF IMPROVED HIGH-RESOLUTION DETECTORS. IMPROVEMENTS IN DETECTOR PERFORMANCE COULD ALLOW HIGHER (OR LOWER) RESOLUTION IMAGES, SCANNING OF LARGER OR MORE DENSE OBJECTS, DECREASED SCAN TIMES AND/OR REDUCED IMAGE NOISE, AND REDUCED IMAGE ARTIFACTS. PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT WILL EVALUATE SEVERAL SCHEMES FOR IMPROVED DETECTORS FOCUSSING PRIMARILY ON IMPROVED SCINTILLATOR PERFORMANCE AND SECONDARILY ON IMPROVED LIGHT CONVERSION DEVICES. ONE OR MORE OF THE MOST PROMISING APPROACHES WILL BE EVALUATED EXPERIMENTALLY TO ASSESS PRACTICALITY. IF WARRANTED, A PHASE II PROJECT FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF A FULL SCALE DETECTOR PACKAGE AND EVALUATION OF MORE ADVANCED ALTERNATIVES WILL BE PROPOSED.