SLIT DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY FOR ANALYSIS OF BOND LINE DEFECTS INROCKET MOTORS

DISCRETE ELEMENT X-RAY DETECTORS DEVELOPED FROM MEDICAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) ARE BEING APPLIED TO INDUSTRIAL X-RAY DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY (DR) AND CT IMAGING. A DR TECHNIQUE KNOWN AS SLIT RADIOGRAPHY, USING THESE DETECTORS, MAY HAVE SPECIAL APPLICATION FOR BOND LINE DEFECTS IN CYLINDRICAL ASSEMBLIES. SLIT RADIOGRAPHY CAN QUICKLY MAP DENSITY VARIATIONS WITHIN THE ROCKET MOTOR WALL ASSOCIATED WITH MATRIX RICH AREAS, CRACKS, POROSITY, AND VOIDS. THIS CAN REPLACE THE USE OF TRADITIONAL FILM TANGENTIAL RADIOGRAPHY FOR BOND LINE INSPECTION. THE DETECTORS HAVE A WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE TO ACCOMMODATE THE MULTIPLE-PATH DATA COLLECTION NECESSARY FOR CT. THIS FEATURE ALLOWS THE DETECTORS TO PICK UP VERY SMALL DENSITY DIFFERENCES IN MATERIALS WHEN USED FOR EITHER DR OR CT. RECENT SPATIAL RESOLUTION IMPROVEMENTS ALSO MAKE IT POSSIBLETO RESOLVE THE SMALL FEATURES OF INTEREST IN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING SLIT RADIOGRAPHY WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE DISCRETE ELEMENT DETECTORSTO EVALUATE BOND LINE DEFECTS. WE WILL COLLECT AND STUDY SAMPLES OF BOND LINE DEFECTS SIMULATED IN PHANTOMS AND ACTUAL SAMPLES FROM BOND LINE ASSEMBLIES. THE RESULTS OF THE SLIT RADIOGRAPHY TESTING WILL BE COMPARED TO COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AND TRADITIONAL TANGENTIAL FILM RADIOGRAPHY ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS TECHNIQUE.