Comprehensive Hull Inspection and Damage Assessment System Navy SBIR FY2012.3 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2012.3 Topic No.: N123-156 Topic Title: Comprehensive Hull Inspection and Damage Assessment System Proposal No.: N123-156-0048 Firm: Physical Optics Corporation Electro-Optics Systems Division 1845 West 205th Street Torrance, California 90501-1510 Contact: Alexander Naumov Phone: (310) 320-3088 Web Site: www.poc.com Abstract: To address the Navy need for damage assessment of vehicle hulls attacked by improvised explosive devices, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Comprehensive Hull Inspection and Damage Assessment (CHIDA) system. It comprises infrared (IR) three-dimensional (3D) vision and stroboscopic shearography modules, innovatively integrated into a single device. The proposed standalone system can be mounted on a compact mobile platform or an industrial shop floor. Operation is controlled by a data processor with a fuzzy logic go/no-go decision engine. Innovative implementation of IR techniques in 3D vision and shearography will allow accurate detection of material irregularities in hull and armor due to hidden cracks, work hardening, and stress fractures. The system will operate through paint and chemical-agent-resistant coatings to conduct battle damage assessment and repair (BDAR) analysis. As a result, this CHIDA system offers comprehensive roadside assessment of hull and armor damage to Marine Corps vehicles, which directly addresses the Navy requirements. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of the CHIDA system through detection of various types of damage in lab tests on prepared coupons. In Phase II, POC will develop a full-scale fieldable system prototype for effective BDAR inspection of vehicles with blast damage. Benefits: Beyond conducting BDAR in the field on Marine Corps vehicle hulls, where the benefits of the proposed CHIDA system are obvious, it will offer benefits in roadside inspection of trucks and construction equipment to assess material damage from impact and fatigue. The CHIDA technology will offer particular benefits in inspection of military aircraft because of its ability to characterize internal impact damage in structurally complex composites where general NDI/NDT techniques are not capable of 3D mapping, which is necessary to visualize and understand cracking damage modes. The CHIDA system, due to its compactness and mobility, can be also applied to inspecting welds in pipelines. In addition, the capability of the CHIDA system to see damage through-the-paint will eliminate or significantly minimize pollution from unnecessary paint removal. Return