Paint Additive/Non-Destructive Interrogation (PANDI) System for Early Detection of Corrosion

Aging aircraft experience increased structural damage and failures as a result of corrosion. Detection of corrosion at its earliest stages is an important step toward improving aircraft readiness rates, safety, and reducing maintenance cost. We have developed and demonstrated a new Paint Additive/Non-destructive Interrogation (PANDI) system. The paint additive component is an innovative implementation of an inorganic nano-sized additive (INA) which was pursued to test for its ability to enhance the non-destructive interrogation system. Although it is shown herein to increase the transparency of the paint to PANDI's operational wavelengths of light when incorporated in a military paint system, the interrogation device was able to reach such a high sensitivity that no paint additive is needed for the system to effectively identify corrosion. The non-destructive interrogator is shown to measure absorption of light by hydroxyl ions accompanying the earliest formation of corrosion.