Crack monitoring apparatus
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorsBalkrishna S. Annigeri, Leroy H. Favrow, Robert J. Haas, Michael Winter, Ronald I. Holland, Jr., Jason S. Wegge, David M. Sanford
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Abstract
An apparatus for monitoring the growth of surface cracks in materials includes a means for applying a load to a specimen to simulate actual use of the specimen, means for illuminating the specimen, means for capturing images of the specimen, and means for processing the images to monitor crack growth in the specimen. Optionally, the means for processing can be used to control the other means.
Claims20
An apparatus for monitoring cracks in a specimen, comprising:
- a. means for applying a load to the specimen, wherein said means for applying a load has a frequency;
- b. means for illuminating the specimen during the application of a load, wherein said illuminating means has a frequency greater than or equal to said frequency of said means for applying a load;
- c. means for capturing images of the specimen, wherein said capturing means is synchronized with said illuminating means such that crack formation images can be obtained during the application of a load, wherein said means for capturing images captures both the image of the crack and microstructural features of the specimen;
- and
- d. means for processing images obtained by said image capturing means to produce crack data real-time.
A method for monitoring cracks in a specimen having microstructural features, comprising the steps of:
- a. applying a load to the specimen with a means for applying a load, wherein said means for applying a load has a frequency;
- b. illuminating the specimen during the application of the load to accentuate the formation of cracks with an illuminating means having a frequency greater than or equal to the frequency of the means for applying a load;
- c. capturing images of the specimen during the loading regime, wherein said captured images are images of the formation of cracks and the specimen microstructural features, and wherein said illuminating and capturing are synchronized with one another;
- and
- d. processing the captured images.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.