NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION OF MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS BY HIGH-DEFINITION HIGH-SPEED INFRARED DIGITAL IMAGING

IT IS PROPOSED TO DEVELOP A NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION (NDE) METHOD WHICH COMBINES A NEW HIGH-DEFINITION HIGH-SPEED INFRARED IMAGING SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE PULSED IR RADIATION SHED ON THE OBJECTS. THE HIGH-PERFORMANCE IR IMAGING SYSTEM FOR THIS METHOD WILL INCLUDE A NEW HIGH-DEFINITION IR IMAGER WITH PTSI SCHOTTKY BARRIER DETECTORS AND MULTIPLE VIDEO OUTPUT POLES SO AS TO ENABLE PARALLEL DATA ACQUISITION AT HIGH IMAGING RATES. THE NEW HIGH-SPEED IR IMAGING SYSTEM WILL HAVE SEVERAL SPECIAL FEATURES OPTIMIZED FOR NDE NOT ONLY OF LARGE SIZE COMPONENTS IN THE FIELD BUT ALSO FOR THOSE IN THE MANUFACTURING STAGE. THE FEATURES ALSO INCLUDE VARIABLE EXPOSURE AND APERTURE, VARIABLE SPECTRAL IMAGING, MULTIPLE FRAMING PER SHOT FOR IMAGING OF MULTIPLE-PIECE COMPONENTS AT HIGH-SPEED MOTION (E.G., ROTATING TURBINE BLADES), HIGH DYNAMIC RESOLUTION (12-BIT) FOR QUANTITATIVE NDE, AND INTERFACE WITH OUR NEW IR BORESCOPE FOR NDE OF HARD-TO-REACH COMPONENTS. IR IMAGES (IN TOTAL OR DESIGNATED SPECTRAL WAVEBANDS) CAN BE CAPTURED USING THIS HIGH-PERFORMANCE DIGITAL SYSTEM FROM OBJECTS EITHER AT NORMAL OPERATION TEMPERATURES (WITHOUT ADDITIONAL HEATING) OR AT SLIGHTLY ELEVATED TEMPERATURES BY USING SINGLE OR MULTIPLE PULSED IR RADIATION. IN PARTICULAR, THE IMAGING THAT IS SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE PULSED HEATING, WHICH HELPS TO DETERMINE HEAT DISSIPATION THAT REVEALS AND AMPLIFIES A MATERIAL'S THERMAL PROPERTIES AND PHYSICAL CONDITIONS, WILL LEAD US TO IDENTIFY AND QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATE VARIOUS DEFECTS AND FAILURE PROGRESS (E.G., CRACKS, DEBOND, LAP-JOINT FAILURE, ABNORMALITY OF TEXTURE AND EVEN OXIDATION PROCESS). IT IS REEMPHASIZED THAT BECAUSE OF THE FEATURES OF THE HIGH-DEFINITION AND HIGH-SPEED IMAGING, THE PRESENT DATA SYSTEM WILL ENABLE RAPID NDE OF COMPONENTS IN A PROMPT MANNER SO THAT ONE CAN CONDUCT EVEN THE ROUTINE FIELD INSPECTIONS AND (IN SITU) PRODUCTION LINE QUALITY CONTROL.