DETERMINATION OF COATING THICKNESS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A METHOD TO RAPIDLY DETERMINE THE COMPLETENESS AND THICKNESS OF COATINGS SUCH AS WAVES OR POLYETHYLENE ON ENERGETIC MATERIALS WHICH ARE USUALLY NITRO COMPOUNDS. THE APPROACH THAT IS PROPOSED IS TO INCLUDE IN THE COATING A VERY SMALL BUT KNOWN PERCENTAGE OF LANTHANUM OXIDE OR SOME SIMILAR TRACE ELEMENT MATERIAL. AFTER THE COATING IS APPLIED TO THE ENERGETIC MATERIAL, IT IS VIEWED BY A SPECIAL X-RAY RADAR WHICH HAS THE ABILITY TO MEASURE VERY ACCURATELY THE AMOUNT OF TRACE ELEMENT THAT IS PRESENT PER UNIT AREA. BY KNOWNING THIS, IT IS THEN POSSIBLE TO DIRECTLY COMPUTE THE THICKNESS OF THE COATING. A DIRECT READOUT SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE. THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS TO PROVE OUT THE CONCEPT AND DEMONSTRATE PERFORMANCE FEATURES. THESE MEASUREMENTS WILL BE MADE IN THE SRS TECHNOLOGIES' X-RAY LABORATORY. ALL OF THE REQUIRED EQUIPMENT FOR THESE TEST IS ALREADY ON HAND. THE END PRODUCT FOR THE PROPOSED EFFORT WILL BE DETAILED DESIGNS FOR A PROTOTYPE COATING THICKNESS MEASUREMENT SYSTEM TO BE DEVELOPED AND TESTED IN THE PHASE II PROGRAM.