APPLICATION OF A MINIATURIZED PORTABLE MICROWAVE INTERFERENCE SCANNING SYSTEM FOR NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING OF COMPOSITE CERAMIC ARMOR

A microwave interferometry system has been miniaturized and configured for flexible field use to determine the "status" of composite ceramic armor. The system utilizes Evisive Scan microwave interference scanning technique and has been demonstrated to detect damage on composite ceramic test specimens as well as composite ceramic surrogates with engineered features. The microwave interference scanning technique has demonstrated detection of cracks, interior laminar features and variations in material properties such as density. It requires access to only one surface, and no coupling medium. Data are not affected by separation of layers of dielectric material, such as outer over-wrap. Other methods, including through-transmission x-ray, x-ray Computed Tomography, and destructive examination, have been used to corroborate the microwave data and establish quantitative performance. Test panels used in this work were provided by commercial manufacturers, the US Army Research Laboratory, US Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and by the Ballistics Testing Station through Argonne National Laboratory. This paper will describe the system and present current results. This work is supported by US Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and US Army Research Laboratory.