CT DATA IMAGING OF SUB-PIXEL FEATURES

IN THIS PROJECT, FAILURE ANALYSIS ASSOCIATES (FAAA) PROPOSES TO EVALUATE AND DEVELOP TECHNIQUES THAT MAY PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR USING CT DATA TO DETECT AND ASSESS THE NATURE OF SUB-PIXEL FEATURES IN ROCKET MOTOR COMPONENTS. FAAA PLANS TO APPLY NDE DATA ANALYSIS AND DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY, THAT WE HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING UNDER IR&D FUNDING. THE FAAA SYSTEM UTILIZES THE PIXAR IMAGE COMPUTER, IN CONJUNCTION WITH FAAA DEVELOPED IMAGE PROCESSING SOFTWARE. FAAA HAS PREVIOUSLY DEMONSTRATED THE CAPABILITY OF THIS SYSTEM TO IDENTIFY MATERIAL DEFECTS IN A PRACTICAL MANNER. FAAA WILL APPLY SIMILAR TECHNIQUES TO THE PROBLEM OF DETECTING FEATURES AT THE SUB-PIXEL LEVEL. AS WITH LARGER DEFECTS,THE PIXAR PROVIDES THE UNIQUE CAPABILITY TO OPERATE ON LARGE AMOUNTS OF DATA IN NEAR REAL TIME AND TO PROVIDE THREEDIMENSIONAL IMAGES OF THE DATA. APPLICATIONS OF THE FAAA NDE DATA ANALYSIS SYSTEM TO THIS PROBLEM WILL BE EVALUATED IN PHASE I, WHICH WILL PRODUCE A PLAN FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A PRACTICAL CAPABILITY IN PHASE II.