Disilicide diffusion coating inspection by micro X-ray fluorescence Imaging

Space Shuttle orbiter thrusters fabricated from C-103 niobium alloy rely on a fused chromium disilicide coating as protection from high-temperature oxidation. Coating voids caused by high-temperature spalling, micrometeorite damage, or other impact damage must first be detected, and then characterized to measure the amount of remaining coating materials, since service life is directly proportional to coating thickness. Existing techniques to estimate the thickness of this diffusion layer are labor intensive, prone to error, and require contact with the coating. Alternative non-contact methods are sought that can automate the detection and characterization of coating defects. Micro X-ray fluorescence (MXRF) imaging is evaluated in this study as a potential NDE method to inspect the chromium disilicide coating. MXRF imaging, a relatively new technique to map the elemental composition of a surface, creates a high spatial resolution multispectral image that can be analyzed to detect coating voids and to quantify the remaining coating materials diffused in the alloy. Analysis of image data collected from sectioned thruster samples confirms that MXRF imaging is a viable detection and characterization method for the thruster coating inspection problem.