Designing an embedded probe for hazardous material shelf-life monitoring

Grant A. Gordon; Katherine T. McClintic; A. G. Holder; Gregory A. Babich

doi:10.1117/12.349739

31 May 1999 Designing an embedded probe for hazardous material shelf-life monitoring

Grant A. Gordon, Katherine T. McClintic, A. G. Holder, Gregory A. Babich

Proceedings Volume 3670, Smart Structures and Materials 1999: Sensory Phenomena and Measurement Instrumentation for Smart Structures and Materials; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.349739
Event: 1999 Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials, 1999, Newport Beach, CA, United States

Abstract

Navy administrators estimate that hundreds of tons of hazardous material (HAZMAT) are being wastefully discarded due to premature disposal. Currently, HAZMAT items are coded when they are brought into the DoD supply system to indicate their storage lifetime. However, this process has come under criticism for generating shelf life codes that are too conservative and can not account for the varying storage conditions experienced by an individual item. Naturally, a detailed laboratory examination could determine when an time has reached the end of its useful shelf life, but this logistically clumsy approach is rarely undertaken, and thus HAZMAT is wastefully discarded. An ideal inspection method would be fast, reliable and non-invasive. We have investigated the development and use of an inexpensive nondestructive sensor to actively assess the shelf state of a ubiquitous HAZMAT, Silicon Alkyd Haze Gray paint. A simple sensor was designed to measure six features of the paint: ultrasonic velocity and attenuation, electric mobility and polarization and temperature and thermal diffusivity. To simulate the storage environment, an accelerated environmental degradation procedure was implemented to force the paint along realistic and prominent failure modes. During this degradation process, the material was monitored with the sensor and a set of standard laboratory measurement techniques. Pattern recognition techniques were applied to identify key characteristics of the data and to design a classifier to discriminate between different classes of the aged samples. Issues of sensitivity, uniqueness and indeterminacy in the problem were considered. Based on these results, a prototype sensor for shelf life management of hazardous silicon alkyd paint appears to be promising.

Citation Download Citation

Grant A. Gordon, Katherine T. McClintic, A. G. Holder, and Gregory A. Babich "Designing an embedded probe for hazardous material shelf-life monitoring", Proc. SPIE 3670, Smart Structures and Materials 1999: Sensory Phenomena and Measurement Instrumentation for Smart Structures and Materials, (31 May 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.349739

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