The Infrared Development and Thermal Structures Laboratory (IDTSL) is an undergraduate research laboratory in the College of Integrated Science and Technology (CISAT) at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Virginia. During the 1997-98 academic year, Dr. Jonathan Miles established the IDTSL at JMU with the support of a collaborative research grant from the NASA Langley Research Center and with additional support from the College of Integrated Science and Technology at JMU. The IDTSL supports research and development efforts that feature non-contact thermal and mechanical measurements and advance the state of the art. These efforts all entail undergraduate participation intended to significantly enrich their technical education. The IDTSL is funded by major government organizations and the private sector and provides a unique opportunity to undergraduates who wish to participate in projects that push the boundaries of non-contact measurement technologies, and provides a model for effective hands-on, project oriented, student-centered learning that reinforces concepts and skills introduced within the Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) curriculum. The lab also provides access to advanced topics and emerging measurement technologies; fosters development of teaming and communication skills in an interdisciplinary environment; and avails undergraduates of professional activities including writing papers, presentation at conferences, and participation in summer internships. This paper provides an overview of the Infrared Development and Thermal Structures Laboratory, its functionality, its record of achievements, and the important contribution it has made to the field of non-contact measurement and undergraduate education.
A thermal, non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique has been employed by ThermTech Services, Inc. in cooperation with NASA Langley Research Center that allows for quantitative measurements of wall thickness in steam boilers. By determining the thickness of the walls, one can easily determine how much thinning has occurred due to corrosion. This type of NDE can be applied to the inspection of wings and fuselages on aircraft and spaceflight vehicles including the shuttle. The NDE technique employs the linear movement of a heat source (lamp) and an infrared imager that is situated at a fixed distance behind the heat source. The instruments are aligned on a platform that moves up and down across the outer surface of a test sample. By analyzing the induced surface temperature variations, and processing images collected with the infrared imager, it can be determined where material loss of the tubes has occurred. After an image sequence has been collected, a line-by-line subtraction methodology is utilized to discard irrelevant information so that defects are displayed in a re-created image. The overall goal of this project is to provide a proof of concept for a portable, hand-operated thermographic line scanner that would provide an alternative to the existing mass- and power-intensive instrument that utilizes a cooled infrared imager. In this project, two different microbolometers are first analyzed using different metal- and carbon epoxy-based targets to determine which provides better resolution for detection of subsurface, manufactured defects. The feasibility of using uncooled bolometer technology to support the development of a portable instrument to conduct this type of NDE technique was proven.
A fiber-optic/infrared (F-O/IR), non-contact temperature measurement system was characterized, and the existing technique for data collection improved, resulting in greater repeatability and precision of data collected. The F-O/IR system is a dual-waveband measurement apparatus that was recently enhanced by the installation of a tuning fork chopper directly into the fiber optical head. This permits a shortened distance between fiber and detector pair, and therefore a stronger signal can be collected. A simple closed box with the inside painted flat black was constructed and used to prevent stray radiation and convection, thus minimizing undesired effects on the measurement process. Analyses of the new data sets demonstrate that system improvements provide a cleaner and more reliable data collection capability. The exponential relationship between detector output voltage and object temperature indicates that the instrument is operating within its nominal range.
The overall goal of this project was to develop a reliable technique to measure the temperature of Kapton HN, an aluminized polymer material being studied for potential future NASA missions. A spectral model that emulates the instrument was also developed in this study. Our measurements and characterization of KaptonÒ HN will be incorporated into the spectral model in order to determine the sensitivity of the instrument to background radiation, spectral emittance of Kapton HN, and other parameters that may affect thermal measurements.
The purpose of this continued study is to model correctly the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) in the troposphere of Harrisonburg, VA using an atmospheric modeling software program coupled with an experimental technique. In previous years, multiple raw data sets were collected using a technique known as gas filter correlation radiometry (GFCR) developed at NASA Langley Research Center. This technique utilizes the infrared (IR) radiance of the full moon and combines a ground-based IR data collection system with a blackbody calibration to yield a power value of the radiant stream. The raw data are processed by differencing a radiance stream obtained from the moon as passed through an evacuated cell against a cell containing a fixed concentration of CO. This power value is then compared with those simulated by the atmospheric modeling software HITRAN-PC. HITRAN-PC can simulate the atmosphere of Harrisonburg with a few key changes of input. It can then model the transmittance of the atmosphere, and by applying an algorithm developed in-house, we can correlate this transmission to a corresponding power value. The modeling is performed multiple times with various estimated values of CO, simulating clean and polluted conditions. Once the power value from the data and the power value from the modeling converge, the CO concentration is determined.
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