"FBS, Inc. proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of a real time gun barrel condition monitoring system using ultrasonic guided wave technology. Guided wave technology is especially suited to the cylindrical and plated (layered) geometry of a gun barrel.Under user control, guided waves can be… More

Gun barrels in a harsh environment with repeated firing and resulting thermal cycling as in Afghanistan and Iraq, pose a significant threat to our soldiers when cracks emerge in the gun barrel possibly leading to barrel failure and/or explosion. The FBS, Inc. objective for Phase II work is the… More

FBS, Inc. proposes to establish the feasibility of an ultrasonically based device for in-situ evaluation of pipeline coatings and for the archiving of coating properties. Based on our experience gained through DOT and EPRI sponsored work on long range ultrasonics, buried pipes, and tar coated pipes… More

Thin film galvanic sensors provide feedback on corrisivity via current and charge accumulation. They do not provide direct feedback on material loss. By combining these sensors with guided wave corrosion sensors, galvanic activity can be directly related to material loss via guided wave data. As… More

FBS, Inc has identified the gaps, challenges, and technical issues related to guided wave inspection of complex shipboard piping systems. Among these are inspection of and beyond elbows, liquid loading both interior and exterior to the piping, and defect cross-sectional-area (CSA) detection of ~ 1%.… More

In Phase I, FBS demonstrated that its Lamb wave computed tomography technology was capable of detecting 0.001" material loss using embedded sensors on a complex aerospace component. Using an array of 16 sensors embedded on the aircraft's hidden surface, a 2-D map of material loss on the exposed… More

Shipboard piping inspection is a key factor in assessing the sea worthiness of naval craft. Other piping applications such as fuel lines are also critical. Ultrasonic guided waves have recently received much attention for inspecting complex pipelines. Guided wave pipeline inspection is typically… More

Bonded joints are used extensively for both civilian and military aircraft applications, especially for corrosion damage mitigation via patch bonding. Assessing the quality of these bonds is typically performed using NDE techniques such as bulk wave ultrasonics or thermography. These methods… More

FBS, Inc. and the Penn State Rotorcraft Center propose the development of a novel ultrasonic guided wave phased array focusing technology for large area anti-icing and/or de-icing of rotor blade structures from a single sensing position. The concept is unique in that it utilizes a phased array… More

FBS, Inc has identified the technical issues related to guided wave inspection of complex shipboard piping systems. Among these, inspection of and beyond elbows, liquid loading both interior and exterior to the piping, and defect cross-sectional-areas (CSAs) of ~ 1% or so are the major issues. FBS,… More

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I research project aims to enhance large area Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) by exploiting the long-distance propagation capability of ultrasonic guided waves in combination with state-of-the-art phased array technology. Currently, embedded guided… More

FBS, Inc. and The Pennsylvania State Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence (VLRCOE), during Phase I of its Army Phase I SBIR contract, demonstrated improved ultrasonic deicing/anti-icing performance using a novel ultrasonic focusing technique. The resulting technology has shown great… More

Bonded joints are used extensively for both civilian and military aircraft applications, especially for corrosion damage mitigation via patch bonding. Assessing the quality of these bonds is typically performed using NDE techniques such as bulk wave ultrasonics or thermography. These methods cannot… More

FBS, Inc. and The Pennsylvania State University propose the development of a novel ultrasonic structural health monitoring (SHM)/nondestructive testing (NDT) technology. The goal of our work is to bridge the gap from the short time transient ultrasonic guided wave analysis to the long time modal… More

FBS, Inc. and Penn State, during Phase I of its Air Force Phase I STTR contract, demonstrated high sensitivity defect detection in both isotropic metallic and anisotropic composite structures using a novel ultrasonic modal analysis technique (UMAT). The resulting technology which is a merge of… More

The military faces a challenge with regard to temporary bridge inspection, as most existing monitoring solutions are designed around the monitoring of permanent bridge structures. These temporary structures are now being used in semi-permanent installations and are experiencing loads and cycles far… More

FBS proposes an embedded sensor based dual mode structural health monitoring (SHM) technique for monitoring damages in composite vehicle armor structures. The passive mode of the proposed SHM technique utilize acoustic emission (AE) sensors to continuously monitor the composite armor structures.… More

FBS, Inc. and The Pennsylvania State University Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence propose the development of a hybrid ultrasonic vibration/thermal self-monitoring ice protection system for composite rotor blades. Thermal-based ice protection systems have been applied to aircraft for years… More

"The widely distributed water infrastructure system provides drinking water and waste water treatment for human life and the environment. A significant amount of water infrastructure network has served the public for decades and is encountering aging problems. Water leakage resulting from aging… More

The recent use of materials, such as 5xxx-series aluminum in new ships is posing new challenges in inspection for the Navy; as future performance of these materials over time is not as well known. Current state of the art off the shelf techniques have not proven to be viable options for monitoring… More

An ultrasonic guided wave phased array approach is proposed for the rapid inspection of aluminum ship hulls below the waterline. With the proposed guided wave phased array technology, a centralized probe is used to steer a beam of ultrasonic energy around the hull structure, like radar. The gathered… More

Advanced composite materials are currently being considered for use in propellers on Navy ships. However, limited in-service data exists on the performance of these materials which leads to excessive pre-service testing and a tendency to overdesign components. Therefore, to reduce the excessive… More

The military faces a challenge with regard to temporary bridge inspection, as most existing monitoring solutions are designed around the monitoring of permanent bridge structures. These temporary structures are now being used in semi-permanent installations and are experiencing loads and cycles far… More

The accumulation of ice on rotor blades while in-flight has been responsible for millions of dollars in damage and loss of life. Current blade ice protection systems are thermal-based and have very demanding power requirements and, therefore, are typically never used and in some cases permanently… More

There currently exists a need to develop new technologies for real time structural health monitoring (SHM) of composite armor panels on ground vehicles in order to inform decision makers on board or at remote locations as to the severity of damage that may occur. FBS, Inc. proposes the development… More

The integrity of water piping infrastructures is essential for providing safe drinking water and for the treatment of wastewater. As pipelines age, they deteriorate, corrode, and crack. Existing techniques, such as visual observation and closed circuit TV, for assessing piping integrity are… More

ABSTRACT: FBS proposes to develop an ultra light-weight ultrasonic guided wave deicing/anti-icing retrofittable system for Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). This system will utilize a focusing/phasing technique to direct and focus energy along specified areas along the leading edge. An anti-icing… More

The recent use of materials, such as 5xxx-series aluminum in new ships is posing new challenges in inspection for the Navy; as future performance of these materials over time is not as well known. Current state of the art off the shelf techniques have not proven to be viable options for monitoring… More