36th AIAA Thermophysics Conference
23-26 June 2003, Orlando, Florida
NON-DESTRUCTIVE DETECTION OF THERMAL TILE SYSTEM DEBONDING
USING SHORT PULSE LASER
Ashish Trivedi, Kunal Mitra*, Chelakara Subramanian
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department
Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL
ABSTRACT
The objective of this paper is to perform a detailed
experimental non-destructive study to detect
debonding in the thermal protection system tiles
using short pulse laser system in a laboratory setting.
The scattered optical signals from tile samples
illuminated with a short pulse laser source are
measured experimentally using a streak camera.
Parametric study involving void size and void density
in a debonded tile sample is performed. The temporal
and spatial profiles of the scattered optical signals are
compared with the case of no bonding between the
tile and the strain isolation pad. Numerical simulation
is also performed for certain parameters, which are
difficult to simulate experimentally.
1. INTRODUCTION
The thermal protection system (TPS) of the Space
Shuttle Orbiter is unique when compared to other
atmospheric reentry vehicles in that, along with other
Orbiter subsystems, are reusable. The Shuttle TPS is
more than just tiles and blankets it is the integration
of the materials, development, design concepts,
fabrication techniques, installation processes, and
refurbishments procedures used to protect a vehicle
from the severe heating environment of atmospheric
reentry. Loss of TPS tiles can have disastrous
consequences. National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) is in urgent need to develop
a non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique to
survey the bond condition of TPS tiles on Orbital
Vehicles or Space Shuttles. Each Orbital Vehicle
possesses about 24,300 Reusable Surface Insulation
(RSI) tiles, some of which loose bond integrity
during repeated flights. Thus, it is required to test
many suspect tiles after each flight.
The schematic of the tile assembly is presented in
Figure 1. RSI tiles are made from one of three
substrate materials: LI-900, FRCI-12, and LI-2200
and are coated with a white or black glass coating.
White-coated RSI tiles are referred to as Low
temperature Reusable Surface Insulation (LRSI) and
black-coated tiles are known as High temperature
Reusable Surface Insulation (HRSI). LRSI is used in
areas where the peak temperatures do not exceed
*
Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed kmitra@fit.edu
Copyright 2003 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved
1
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Copyright © 2003 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.
AIAA 2003-3488
12000F, and HRSI is used in regions less than 23000F.
The thickness of the tiles varies from less than 1 inch to
over 3 inches depending upon the heat load. HRSI tiles
are 6 inches square whereas LRSI tiles are 8 inches
square. The RSI tiles are attached to the Orbital vehicle
via a strain isolation pad (SIP) and two layers of RTV
glue. RTV thickness is about 0.01 inches and SIP
thickness is either 0.09 or 0.12 inches. Filler bar having
same properties as SIP is placed below the gap of adjacent
tiles.
In the past several different techniques have been
attempted to detect debonding in the TPS tiles. In most of
the earlier techniques measured structural dynamic
response of the tiles has been compared to the frequency
response function to detect debonding,1 but the biggest
challenge in this technique is extremely high acoustic
attenuation of these materials.2 Shearographic non-
destructive analysis of TPS has been also performed in
Kennedy Space Center.3 In shearography the tile is first
stressed either acoustically or thermally and then
illuminated with coherent laser radiation. The scattered
light from the surface is collected into the shearographic
camera and the resulting image is processed to obtain the
shearing vector, which is used to detect the debond.4 In
thermography a single pulse of heat from a photographic
flash lamp is used to analyze the object for subsurface
defects. While in another type of thermography called
lock-in thermography the object is illuminated with the
harmonic modulated continuous sine heat wave rather
than a pulsed heat source.5 Thermal pulse is reflected
from the subsurface defects thus affecting the temperature
distribution near the defect. This can be observed using an
infrared camera. Shearographic and thermographic
techniques have improved the debond inspection rate and
are less dependent on conventional ultrasonic or eddy
current techniques.6 But at the same time thermography is
limited by capability of detecting defects which result in a
measurable change of the thermal properties (e.g.
disbonds and cracks can only be detected if they induce
interface thermal resistances).7 Also in shearography
resolution of fringe patterns is a major drawback.8 Time-
domain reflectometry has been also studied to detect
debonding in the TPS tiles which is based on the principle
that a debond induces an additional delay in the reflected
waveform. This reflected waveform is measured by a