99--TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY AIR COUPLED ACOUSTIC THERMOGRAPHY:LAR-17573

NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses. THE TECHNOLOGY: Scientists at NASA Langley Research Center have NASA Langley researchers have developed a novel noncontact method to identify internal damage inside structures. Air Coupled Acoustic Thermography (ACAT) was originally developed for damage identification in honeycomb sandwich structures but can also be applied to other systems. ACAT uses pulsed acoustic waves to generate movement and vibrations in areas of honeycomb structures that exhibit weakness or stress. These vibrations generate temperature differentials that can be visualized via thermography and essentially allow more exact identification of damaged regions. ACAT provides several advantages over techniques used for similar purposes such as ultrasound or vibrothermography in that the excitation source does not need to be physically coupled to the substrate of interest. This advantage allows ACAT to detect damage in curved surfaces and mitigates the risk of damaging the substrate at the coupling point. ACAT has been demonstrated to accurately visualize internal core damage as well as damage nearer to the structures skin. ACAT consists of an infrared camera, an image data capture system, an acoustic excitation source, and a chamber. The structure of interest is placed in a chamber to contain the sound and create a stable thermal environment. A loudspeaker is placed near to, but not in contact with, the structure, and it is then pulsed with acoustic energy for approximately 4080 cycles. The majority of the acoustic excitation is reflected off the structure, and very little energy absorption is observed. However, weak or damaged areas vibrate and act like heat sources. These heat sources can then be visualized using an infrared camera. A typical inspection time takes 23 minutes. The data is processed pixel by pixel in the time domain using a fast Fourier transform algorithm to produce a magnitude of images as a function of frequency. ACAT can visualize core and near skin structure damage over wide areas without the need for a couplant. This permits ACAT to identify damage in curved and linear structures. U.S. patent 7,855,368. To express interest in this opportunity, please respond to contact@example.gov with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this FBO notice and your preferred contact information. Please also provide the nature of your interest in the technology along with a brief background of your company. For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at http://technology.nasa.gov/ . These responses are provided to members of NASA Langleys Office of Strategic Analysis and Business Development OSACB for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. If direct licensing interest results from this posting, OSACB will follow the required formal licensing process of posting in the Federal Register. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.