REAL TIME IMAGING OF ROCKET MOTORS DURING LIVE FIRE

THE PRIMARY EFFORT OF THIS PROGRAM DEVELOPS AN INSTRUMENT THAT WILL ALLOW INTERNAL IMAGING OF ROCKET MOTORS AND NOZZLES DURING LIVE STATIC FIRES. THIS INSTRUMENT WILL PRODUCE VOXEL-BY-VOXEL X-RAY DATA SO THAT A THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGE OF THE ROCKET CAN BE MADE IN REAL-TIME DURING FIRING. THE PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION, FLASH LAMINOGRAPHY, COMBINES TWO IDEAS: (1) SIMULTANEOUSLY-STROBED X-RAY SOURCES TO PRODUCE SHARP PICTURES ON A BLUR SCALE CONSISTENT WITH FINE SPATIAL RESOLUTION DURING THE BURN, AND (2) TOMOSYNTHESIS, A RECONSTRUCTIVE TECHNIQUE INTERMEDIATE TO THE PRINCIPLES USED IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) AND CONVENTIONAL FILM LAMINOGRAPHY. FLASH LAMINOGRAPHY (FL) IS DISTINGUISHED FROM EITHER TECHNIQUE, HOWEVER, IN THAT IT OFFERS THE POTENTIAL FOR VIEWING TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGES OF ANY PLANE OR SURFACE OF THE TEST SPECIMEN IN REAL-TIME, INCLUDING A LONGITUDINAL CROSSSECTION CONTAINING THE ROCKET'S AXIS OF SYMMETRY. THUS, ROCKETS AND COMPONENTS CAN BE EXAMINED DURING STATIC FIRE. AS A PERIPHERAL EFFORT, THE PROPOSAL ALSO PERFORMS A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF A PURELY ELECTRONIC IMAGING TECHNIQUE THAT PROMISES EXTREMELY FAST, LOW RESOLUTION, TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGES OF LIVE, EXTRATERRESTRIAL FIRES. THE PHASE I PROGRAM EMPHASIZES AN EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION OF PROOF-OF-PRINCIPLE OF THE PRIMARY EFFORT AND SETS THE STAGE FOR A PHASE II FEASIBILITY/CAPABILITY EXPERIMENT. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL ALSO DETERMINE AN EXPERIMENTAL CONFIGURATION FOR THE ALTERNATIVE, EXTRATERRESTRIAL SYSTEM. BOTH OF THESE NEAR REAL-TIME TECHNIQUES COULD BE APPLIED TO NONINVASIVE CARDIAC EXAMINATION. THE FLASH LAMINOGRAPHY SYSTEM IS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING HIGH RESOLUTION, 3-D, FREEZE-FRAME, REAL-TIME HEART STOPPING ON 5 MSEC BLUR WITH 30 MSEC CENTERS. THE ELECTRONIC TECHNIQUE IS POTENTIALLY EVEN FASTER, BUT WITH LOWER RESOLUTION. ANY INDUSTRIAL PROCESS INVOLVING FLUID FLOW WITH SUSPENSIONS OR PARTICULATES IS A CANDIDATE FOR THESE METHODS. THE CAPABILITY FOR NEAR REAL-TIME IMAGING HOLDS POTENTIAL FOR NEW METHODS OF INDUSTRIAL PROCESS CONTROL.