NDE for Characterizing Oxidation Damage in Reinforced Carbon-Carbon Used on the NASA Space Shuttle Thermal Protection System

Oxidation through coating cracks of SiC-protected carbon/carbon

“…The similarity between the CT images and the actual optical microscopy images give credibility to the use of CT imaging to precisely size and characterize the three-dimensional morphology of this type of oxidation damage (ref. 25). Both the optical microscope images and the CT images indicated the oxidation damage occurs in the form of a half cylinder.…”

NDE for Characterizing Oxidation Damage in Reinforced Carbon‐Carbon

“…PRIOR STUDIES It is pertinent here to review the results of a prior related study in which a more quantitative approach to NDE capability was evaluated. 2 In that study, RCC material that was the same as that used for the wing-leading-edge of the shuttle had holes rather than cracks incorporated to the depth of the coating in order to study oxidation damage with NDE methods. Seventeen 0.5 mm diameter holes, spaced 13 mm apart, were ultrasonically drilled through the coating system to the depth of the SiC coating, followed by oxidation treatments.…”

“…In a prior study, small breaches in the coating of an RCC sample were created by drilling holes followed by oxidation of the sample and subsequent nondestructive (NDE) to characterize oxidation damage. 2 In that study, RCC samples were oxidized to create approximately hemi-spherical holes underneath the silicon carbide coating and subsequently inspected using various nondestructive evaluation methods. In the current study, small breaches were created by machining slots of various widths to simulate cracks of various sizes in the coating, and NDE was again subsequently used to characterize the oxidation damage.…”

Quantitative Three-Dimensional Imaging by Thermal Tomography Method

“…One-sided pulsed thermal imaging has been widely used for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of advanced materials and components [1][2][3][4]. Compared with other NDE technologies, thermal imaging is noncontact, sensitive to planar features, and fast for largearea inspection.…”