Abstract
Microwave heating has been recently used as an active thermal excitation method in thermography. Within the nondestructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E) realm, this method is referred to as active microwave thermography, or AMT. In AMT, unlike other thermal excitation methods utilized in thermography, microwave heating inherently provides a nonuniform heating pattern. This is a direct result of the radiating antenna used to deliver the energy. This nonuniform pattern may result in defect detection errors (i.e., false positives and/or negatives). To reduce this potential for detection error and improve the overall robustness of the technique, a new electromagnetic system, consisting of an array of antennas which are excited by different frequencies or time-varying random phases is proposed. The experimental results presented here show that improved uniformity of the heating pattern can be obtained by the new radiating system, with results showing that a 4-element array provides a uniform thermal excitation over an area 5.5 times greater than that of a single antenna.
Recommended Citation
L. M. Wilcox et al., "Frequency Division Multiplexing and Random Phasing for Improved Uniformity in Microwave Heating Applications," Conference Record - IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Jan 2024.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1109/I2MTC60896.2024.10560912
Department(s)
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Active Microwave Thermography (AMT); Frequency Division Multiplexing; Microwave Heating; Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT&E); Phased Array Antenna; Uniform Heating
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1091-5281
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2024 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2024
Comments
National Science Foundation, Grant 1609470