Polymeric Hose Health Inspection Using Microwave NDE Techniques

Hoses are critical to the operation of hydraulic, power train, and auxiliary machinery aboard ship and in industrial applications. This project will develop a hose inspection tool to economically and practically assess hose health in place. Reliable inspection of hoses reduces maintenance costs while decreasing the rate of hose failures and related accidents. Microwave methods for hose nondestructive evaluation (NDE) can identify critical hose defects at low cost with minimal operator training. Microwave hose NDE can be done using portable handheld devices roughly the size and weight of a flashlight. Microwave inspection is based on the change in dielectric properties associated with hose defects like delamination, disbonding, and wall thinning. These changes are detected by sensing reflected microwave energy, and complex signal processing routines are not required to observe them with high reliability. Microwave NDE is done in real time - results are immediate and can be as simple as the blink of an indicator light - so position recording or complex scanning equipment is not necessary. Development of microwave NDE for hose inspection will result in a battery powered NDE tool - more like a battery operated drill than a computer driven system - and as such has a very high potential for commercial success in both Navy and industrial applications. TRI/Austin has committed to funding - at no cost to the project - a business study by an MBA candidate team to map the path for moving microwave hose NDE to the commercial market after development.