SBIR-STTR Award

Corrosion is becoming an increasing problem in the Air Forces aging fleet. Corrosion is developing in airframes in inaccessible areas never intended for disassembly.  This potentially leads to premature failure due to fatigue or significant reduction of material integrity. Mitigation efforts are proving to be costly and time consuming. A methodology to locate and evaluate hidden corrosion in-situ is needed. X-rays produced by laser Compton scattering (LCS) have the potential to meet this need. This proposal details a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of LCS x-ray beams at finding and quantifying hidden corrosion in aircraft materials. Samples mimicking hidden corrosion will be made for imaging that simulate corrosion using anodized patterns of different shapes, sizes, and oxide layer thicknesses. Additionally, samples or components exhibiting corrosion mechanisms of interest (e.g., pitting, intergranular, galvanic, etc.) will be tested, if available.  Digital detection techniques will be used, enabling detailed analysis of x-ray absorption information to analyze corrosion features such as defect size and depth.  The data will be used in Phase II to create an inspection framework to be designed that enables degradation rates to be analyzed by recording successive inspections on the same part.

Benefit:
Benefits to be realized by the Air Force with the successful implementation of LCS x-ray beams begin with improved aircraft safety. Significant reductions in aircraft maintenance cost will be possible through reduced teardowns to inspect for corrosion and the ability to schedule corrective maintenance based on actual condition. Commercial applications exist anywhere hidden corrosion is a problem. Commercial airlines will benefit for the same reasons as the Air Force. Other industries that will immediately benefit include the automotive industry, the petroleum extraction and processing industries, and the nuclear energy industry. Fundamental   materials research will benefit as well, as this technology will allow for corrosion to be examined in-situ.

Keywords:
Corrosion, Measurement, Modeling, Nondestructive, Monochromatic X-Ray, Asset Maintenance

The proposed effort in Phase II is to develop, produce, and demonstrate a prototype inspection platform and complementary damage modeling tool as a complete nondestructive evaluation solution referred to as the X-Ray Corrosion Detection System (XCDS). This system will be based on the state of the art radiographic techniques including narrow-bandwidth, spectral, and phase-contrast radiography, as well as tomosynthesis. The system will additionally incorporate medical research imaging enhancement technologies applied to industrial NDE, and automated scanning to demonstrate inspection performance and cost of inspection efficiencies. In Phase I, the ability to differentiate areas with hidden corrosion was shown using a subset of the above techniques. In Phase II, these techniques will be fully developed and integrated into a prototype capable of inspecting representative components without teardown or extensive surface preparation. Corrosion defect modeling will be integrated into the system, which will provide the end user with quantified information on the size and shape of corrosion defects.

Benefit:
Benefits to the Air Force with the successful implementation of the XCDS inspection platform begin with improved aircraft safety and readiness. Significant reduction in maintenance cost is made possible through reduced teardowns to inspect for corrosion and the ability to schedule corrective maintenance based on actual condition. Commercial applications exist anywhere hidden corrosion is a problem. The same benefits can be achieved in commercial aviation as military, and other industries that will immediately benefit include the automotive industry, the petroleum extraction and processing industries, and marine vessels.

Keywords:
Hidden Corrosion, Detection, Aluminum, X-Ray, Phase Contrast