MINIATURIZED HAND HELD MICROWAVE INTERFERENCE SCANNING SYSTEM FOR NDE OF DIELECTRIC ARMOR AND ARMOR SYSTEMS

Inspection of ceramic‐based armor has advanced through development of a microwave‐based, portable, non‐contact NDE system. Recently, this system was miniaturized and made wireless for maximum utility in field applications. The electronic components and functionality of the laboratory system are retained, with alternative means of position input for creation of scan images. Validation of the detection capability was recently demonstrated using specially fabricated surrogates and ballistic impact‐damaged specimens. The microwave data results have been compared to data from laboratory‐based microwave interferometry systems and digital x‐ray imaging. The microwave interference scanning has been shown to reliably detect cracks, laminar features and material property variations. The authors present details of the system operation, descriptions of the test samples used and recent results obtained.