I presented at the Army Research Lab Summer Symposium, Aberdeen Proving Ground. Presentation talk.
Abstract:
Since 1983, the Army has mandated that all deployed equipment be coated with chemical agent resistant coatings (CARCs). Composed of a two layer system, a primer and a top coat, CARCs are engineered to provide maximum protection against environmental conditions, corrosion, and chemical agents. Currently, however, few—if any—non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques exist to determine the performance of either the protective coating or the material underneath the coating. Oftentimes, it is necessary to completely remove the CARC paint using caustic and harmful paint strippers before the material under the paint can be inspected. To this end, time domain terahertz spectroscopy is proposed as a method capable of non-destructively detecting the onset of corrosion under CARC paints. More penetrating than visible or infrared radiation but less harmful than high energy, ionizing, x-ray radiation, terahertz occupies a niche in NDE techniques. Here, terahertz spectroscopy is shown to reliably identify corrosion under a variety of CARC systems and on different materials. Further terahertz spectroscopy provides imaging capabilities that allow for unique characterization of paint systems.
Abstract:
Since 1983, the Army has mandated that all deployed equipment be coated with chemical agent resistant coatings (CARCs). Composed of a two layer system, a primer and a top coat, CARCs are engineered to provide maximum protection against environmental conditions, corrosion, and chemical agents. Currently, however, few—if any—non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques exist to determine the performance of either the protective coating or the material underneath the coating. Oftentimes, it is necessary to completely remove the CARC paint using caustic and harmful paint strippers before the material under the paint can be inspected. To this end, time domain terahertz spectroscopy is proposed as a method capable of non-destructively detecting the onset of corrosion under CARC paints. More penetrating than visible or infrared radiation but less harmful than high energy, ionizing, x-ray radiation, terahertz occupies a niche in NDE techniques. Here, terahertz spectroscopy is shown to reliably identify corrosion under a variety of CARC systems and on different materials. Further terahertz spectroscopy provides imaging capabilities that allow for unique characterization of paint systems.