Advanced Nondestructive Inspection System for Detection and Characterization of Corrosion under Thick Coatings

Situations exist for the United States Navy where the condition of a substrate needs to be assessed in situ under thick polymeric coatings. This assessment includes the degree of adhesion of the coating to the substrate and the condition of the substrate from a corrosion perspective.  To satisfy this need, Texas Research Institute (TRI) Austin proposes teaming with Iowa State University (ISU) to develop a portable, real-time, microwave imaging system (“microwave camera”) for the nondestructive inspection of the bond-line between a thick polymer coating and its metallic substrate that is capable of operating within an underwater environment. The developed microwave camera will use synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging techniques to create high resolution images of potential defects at the bond-line between the coatings and substrates of interest.