Project Title: Design of NDT Field Inspection System

Group Members: Jarod Hansen, Dusty Klose, Ross Mielke, Matt Wire

Department:  Mechanical Engineering

Faculty Advisors:  Mike Twedt, Fereidoon Delfanian

Graduate Student Advisors:  Adam Goblish, John Feldhacker

Sponsor:  U.S. Dept. of Defense, Benet Army Weapons Lab

Efforts to effectively determine the life of a cannon barrel have now been extended to developing a conceptual design for a nondestructive testing system to evaluate the condition of gun barrels in the field. This purpose of this project is to develop an autonomous vehicle capable of crawling up and down the length of a large caliber cannon barrel to enable researchers to scan the interior surface for cracks and flaws due to fatigue that would indicate that the barrel needs to be decommissioned. This robotic vehicle carries a borescope to provide visual inspection and an ultrasonic transducer (UT) with which to scan the barrel. The UT data collected is stored on a computer for both real-time analysis and statistical computational usages. The data and images collected from the borescope are then used to monitor and predict fatigue related stress cracks in the barrel material. The system is designed to be portable and to be capable of being used in remote locations where these weapons are deployed.

The non-destructive testing capabilities of this equipment will help to make the large caliber cannon barrels both safer and more reliable. The increased number of inspections possible with this portable field system will improve the crack detection process and thereby increase the safety of the weapons for the soldier/operators, as well as efficiently and effectively monitor the usable life associated with large caliber cannons.