Micro-Electronics Division - Field Inspection Vehicle

Currently, weapon barrels are replaced after a statistically specified number of rounds are fired in an effort to prevent a single catastrophic failure. This replacement model guarantees resources are wasted by disposing barrels that have remaining life.  This has been necessary to protect the safety of the soldiers who operate these weapons.

However, AST, in cooperation with the Army Benet Weapons Lab and South Dakota State University METLAB, have developed a system which is able to individually scan the inner surface of a barrel which is nearing end-of-life and detect flaws. This periodic monitoring will save replacement costs while still preserving the highest standard of safety.

Purpose

• The FIV provides an analytical record of the surface quality of gun barrels to determine when a barrel should be decommissioned for safety concerns.
• The system will provide the ability to visually inspect any cylindrical tube.
• The system will provide the ability to monitor and analyze defects.
• The FIV can be applied to any straight cylindrical tube.

Method

By using a systematic clamping sequence, the FIV will traverse a cylindrical structure taking Eddy Current Test (ET) scans along the way.  When a defect is detected by the ET transducer, the operator can pause the scanning system in order to carefully analyze the flaw.  At this time, either the ET transducer can be used for manual scanning or a video borescope can be deployed to visually inspect and measure the flaw.

Status

• An “ET-only” version of the FIV has been completed and is fully operational using a computer-based user interface.
• The borescope mounting system has been added and the control system is being integrated into the control interface.
• An automatic initialization system is being developed to prevent inconsistent insertion to affect the accuracy of the scans.
• The system has been shown to have equal resolution to common lab-based practices.

The FIV is an excellent method of scanning gun barrels to determine the health of the barrel.  Doing so should save DoD significant funds by decommissioning only the barrels which have been verified to be at their end-of-life.