Detecting Substandard, Nonconforming, Improperly Processed and Counterfeit Materiel

Vibrant Corporation and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) propose to apply Process Compensated Resonance Testing (PCRT) to the DLA's need for an NDI method to detect counterfeit, nonconforming and improperly processed materiel. PCRT collects and analyzes the resonance frequencies of a component to detect structural defects, characterize material, analyze population variation, monitor manufacturing processes, and monitor structural integrity of parts through their service life. Vibrant and SNL will collect samples of metallic and non-metallic components with material variation and processing variation. Vibrant will collect and analyze resonance frequencies for the samples. Frequency sensitivity to material and process variation will be quantified, and the PCRT capabilities for differentiating materials and process variation will be demonstrated. SNL will perform material characterization on the components to verify material conditions, and provide its expertise from SNL-funded work on counterfeit detection. In a proposed Phase I Option, the team will develop and demonstrate a preliminary production PCRT sort. Vibrant and SNL will conduction verification and repeatability studies on the production sort.