Abstract

The Space Shuttle Columbia's catastrophic failure is thought to have been caused by a dislodged piece of external tank spray on foam insulation (SOFI) striking the left wing of the orbiter causing significant damage to some of the reinforced carbon/carbon leading edge wing panels. Microwave and millimeter wave nondestructive evaluation methods have shown great potential for inspecting SOFI for the purpose of detecting anomalies such as small air voids that may cause separation of the SOFI from the external tank during a launch. These methods are capable of producing relatively high-resolution images of the interior of SOFI particularly when advanced imaging algorithms are incorporated into the overall system. To this end, synthetic aperture focusing techniques (SAFT) are being developed. This paper presents some of the preliminary results of this investigation using SAFT-based methods and microwave holography at relatively low frequencies illustrating their potential capabilities for operation at millimeter wave frequencies.

Meeting Name

Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (2005: Jul. 31-Aug. 5, Brunswick, ME)

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Focusing; Insulation Testing; Microwave Holography; Millimetre Waves; Nondestructive Testing; Microwave And Millimeter Wave Imaging

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-0735403123

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0094-243X

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2005 American Institute of Physics (AIP), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Aug 2005

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