Mr. K. Elliott Cramer Profile

K. Elliott Cramer

Research Scientist at NASA Langley Research Ctr

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (25)

Proceedings Article | 22 March 2018 Open Access

Current and future needs and research for composite materials NDE

K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 10596, 1059603 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2291921

KEYWORDS: Inspection, Composites, Nondestructive evaluation, Thermography, Ultrasonics, Principal component analysis, Infrared imaging, Thermal modeling, Infrared cameras, Cameras

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Proceedings Article | 11 May 2016 Paper

Advances in in situ inspection of automated fiber placement systems

Peter Juarez, K. Elliott Cramer, Jeffrey Seebo

Proceedings Volume 9861, 986109 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2223028

KEYWORDS: Inspection, Composites, Carbon, Manufacturing, Quartz, Cameras, Lamps, Defect detection, Aerospace engineering, Thermography

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Proceedings Article | 11 May 2016 Paper

Simulation of thermographic responses of delaminations in composites with quadrupole method

William Winfree, Joseph Zalameda, Patricia Howell, K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 9861, 98610N (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2221994

KEYWORDS: Composites, Thermography, Interfaces, Data modeling, Computer simulations, Resistance, Chemical elements, Finite element methods, Computed tomography, Solids

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Proceedings Article | 12 May 2015 Paper

Principal component analysis of thermographic data

William Winfree, K. Elliott Cramer, Joseph Zalameda, Patricia Howell, Eric Burke

Proceedings Volume 9485, 94850S (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2176285

KEYWORDS: Principal component analysis, Composites, Data modeling, Inspection, Thermal modeling, Thermography, Resistance, Data acquisition, Nondestructive evaluation, Data processing

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Proceedings Article | 10 May 2011 Paper

Fixed eigenvector analysis of thermographic NDE data

K. Elliott Cramer, William Winfree

Proceedings Volume 8013, 80130T (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.882359

KEYWORDS: Thermal modeling, Principal component analysis, Data modeling, Signal to noise ratio, Nondestructive evaluation, Thermography, Aluminum, Model-based design, Skin, Silicon carbide

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Proceedings Article | 18 April 2006 Paper

Status of thermal NDT of space shuttle materials at NASA

K. Elliott Cramer, William Winfree, Kenneth Hodges, Ajay Koshti, Daniel Ryan, Walter Reinhardt

Proceedings Volume 6205, 62051B (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.669684

KEYWORDS: Inspection, Thermography, Nondestructive evaluation, Principal component analysis, Imaging systems, Defect detection, Photography, Infrared cameras, Image processing, Cameras

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Proceedings Article | 18 August 2005 Paper

Infrared on-orbit inspection of shuttle orbiter reinforced carbon-carbon using solar heating

P. Howell, W. Winfree, K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 5880, 588009 (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.615332

KEYWORDS: Inspection, Cameras, Nondestructive evaluation, Infrared cameras, Thermography, Infrared imaging, Signal to noise ratio, Infrared radiation, Principal component analysis, Heat flux

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Proceedings Article | 28 March 2005 Paper

Line scan versus flash thermography: comparative study on reinforced carbon-carbon

Deonna Woolard, K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 5782, (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.603789

KEYWORDS: Signal to noise ratio, Scanners, Thermography, Inspection, Principal component analysis, Lamps, Quartz, Infrared cameras, Cameras, Imaging systems

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Proceedings Article | 12 April 2004 Paper

The thermal photocopier: a new concept for thermal NDT

Deonna Woolard, K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 5405, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.541881

KEYWORDS: Cameras, Aluminum, Lamps, Thermography, Quartz, Infrared cameras, Inspection, Scanners, Algorithm development, Composites

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Proceedings Article | 15 March 2002 Paper

Inspection of high-performance peltier coolers using lock-in thermography

K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 4710, (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.459605

KEYWORDS: Bismuth, Thermography, Tellurium, Modulation, Inspection, Ceramics, Phase shift keying, Infrared cameras, Cameras, Infrared imaging

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Proceedings Article | 23 March 2001 Paper

Boiler tube corrosion characterization with a scanning thermal line

K. Elliott Cramer, A. Ronald Jacobstein, Thomas Reilly

Proceedings Volume 4360, (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.421047

KEYWORDS: Inspection, Thermography, Corrosion, Infrared imaging, Imaging systems, Infrared cameras, Ultrasonics, Temperature metrology, Calibration, Nondestructive evaluation

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Proceedings Article | 23 March 2001 Paper

Thermal diffusivity imaging with a moving line source

William Winfree, D. Michele Heath, K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 4360, (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.421035

KEYWORDS: Composites, Optical spheres, Glasses, Lamps, Solids, Inspection, Imaging systems, Carbon, Infrared imaging, Thermography

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Proceedings Article | 9 June 2000 Paper

Thermographic imaging of material loss in boiler water-wall tubing by application of scanning line source

K. Elliott Cramer, William Winfree

Proceedings Volume 3995, (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.387854

KEYWORDS: Inspection, Thermography, Imaging systems, Temperature metrology, Calibration, Infrared cameras, Ultrasonics, Infrared imaging, Corrosion, Nondestructive evaluation

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Proceedings Article | 30 March 2000 Paper

Reduction of thermal data using neural networks

William Winfree, K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 4020, (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.381542

KEYWORDS: Neural networks, Imaging systems, Aluminum, Thermography, Infrared imaging, Data acquisition, Sensors, Infrared radiation, Temperature metrology, Bridges

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Proceedings Article | 30 March 2000 Paper

Application of the thermal line scanner to quantify material loss due to corrosion

K. Elliott Cramer, William Winfree

Proceedings Volume 4020, (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.381553

KEYWORDS: Inspection, Thermography, Imaging systems, Nondestructive evaluation, Skin, Corrosion, Temperature metrology, Scanners, Aircraft structures, Image processing

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Proceedings Article | 5 February 1999 Paper

Thermographic detection and quantitative characterization of corrosion by application of thermal line source

K. Elliott Cramer, William Winfree, Dan Reid, Jane Johnson

Proceedings Volume 3588, (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.339947

KEYWORDS: Temperature metrology, Imaging systems, Thermography, Infrared imaging, Corrosion, Inspection, Infrared radiation, Spatial resolution, Ultrasonics, Nondestructive evaluation

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Proceedings Article | 26 March 1998 Paper

Thermographic detection and quantitative characterization of corrosion by application of thermal line source

K. Elliott Cramer, William Winfree

Proceedings Volume 3361, (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.304740

KEYWORDS: Thermography, Temperature metrology, Imaging systems, Nondestructive evaluation, Corrosion, Skin, Infrared imaging, Inspection, Image processing, Infrared radiation

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Recent advances in thermal imaging technology have spawned a number of new thermal nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques that provide quantitative information about flaws in aircraft structures. Thermography has a number of advantages as an inspection technique for aircraft. It is a totally noncontacting, nondestructive, imaging technology capable of inspecting a large area in a mater of a few seconds. The development of fast, inexpensive image processors have aided in the attractiveness of thermography as an NDE technique. These image processors have increased the signal to noise ratio of thermography and facilitated significant advances in post-processing. The resulting digital images enable archival records for comparison with later inspections thus providing a means of monitoring the evolution of damage in a particular structure. NASA Langley Research Center has developed a thermal NDE technique designed to image and quantitatively characterize the thickness of thin aluminum sheets. The technique involves the movement of a thermal line source across the outer surface of a sample followed by an IR imager at a fixed distance behind the line source. Images of the material loss due to corrosion are reconstructed from measurements of the induced surface temperature variations. This paper will present a discussion of the development of the thermal imaging system as well as the techniques used to reconstruct images of flaws. The application of the thermal line source coupled with the analysis technique represents a significant improvement in the quantification of flaws over conventional thermal imaging. Results of laboratory experiments on specimens with fabricated material loss region swill be presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the technique. An integral part of the development of this technology is the use of analytic and computational modeling to optimize the technique and reduce the data. The experimental results will be compared with simulations to demonstrate the utility of such an approach.

Proceedings Article | 15 March 1996 Paper

Computational pulse shaping for thermographic inspections

William Winfree, K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 2766, (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.235379

KEYWORDS: Inspection, Lamps, Time metrology, Infrared imaging, Infrared radiation, Imaging systems, Heat flux, Pulse shaping, Image processing, Thermal effects

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Proceedings Article | 15 March 1996 Paper

Thermal characterization of defects in aircraft structures via spatially controlled heat application

K. Elliott Cramer, William Winfree

Proceedings Volume 2766, (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.235376

KEYWORDS: Thermography, Image processing, Inspection, Aluminum, Aircraft structures, Nondestructive evaluation, Imaging systems, Quartz, Infrared imaging, Skin

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Proceedings Article | 28 March 1995 Paper

Quantitative thermal imaging of aircraft structures

K. Elliott Cramer, Patricia Howell, Hazari Syed

Proceedings Volume 2473, (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.204859

KEYWORDS: Thermography, Inspection, Corrosion, Skin, Nondestructive evaluation, Infrared imaging, Image processing, Imaging systems, Infrared radiation, Aluminum

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Aircraft structural integrity is a major concern for airlines and airframe manufacturers. To remain economically competitive, airlines are looking at ways to retire older aircraft, not when some fixed number of flight hours or cycles has been reached, but when true structural need dictates. This philosophy is known as `retirement for cause.' The need to extend the life of commercial aircraft has increased the desire to develop nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques capable of detecting critical flaws such as disbonding and corrosion. These subsurface flaws are of major concern in bonded lap joints. Disbonding in such a joint can provide an avenue for moisture to enter the structure leading to corrosion. Significant material loss due to corrosion can substantially reduce the structural strength, load bearing capacity and ultimately reduce the life of the structure. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Langley Research Center has developed a thermal NDE system designed for application to disbonding and corrosion detection in aircraft skins. By injecting a small amount of heat into the front surface of an aircraft skin, and recording the time history of the resulting surface temperature variations using an infrared camera, quantitative images of both bond integrity and material loss due to corrosion can be produced. This paper presents a discussion of the development of the thermal imaging system as well as the techniques used to analyze the resulting thermal images. The analysis techniques presented represent a significant improvement in the information available over conventional thermal imaging due to the inclusion of data from both the heating and cooling portion of the thermal cycle. Results of laboratory experiments on fabricated disbond and material loss samples are presented to determine the limitations of the system. Additionally, the results of actual aircraft inspections are shown, which help to establish the field applicability for this technique. A recent application of this technology to aircraft repairs using boron/epoxy patches is shown illustrating the flexibility of the technology.

Proceedings Article | 6 April 1993 Paper

Corrosion detection in aircraft skin

Hazari Syed, K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 1933, (1993) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.141963

KEYWORDS: Corrosion, Thermography, Skin, Infrared radiation, Infrared imaging, Image processing, Inspection, Aluminum, Nondestructive evaluation, Temperature metrology

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Proceedings Article | 6 April 1993 Paper

Quantitative thermal depth imaging of subsurface damage in insulating materials

K. Elliott Cramer, Patricia Howell, William Winfree

Proceedings Volume 1933, (1993) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.141968

KEYWORDS: Thermography, Composites, Image processing, Radiometry, Video processing, Video, Data acquisition, Diffusion, Imaging systems, Infrared imaging

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Proceedings Article | 1 April 1992 Paper

Processing infrared images of aircraft lapjoints

Hazari Syed, William Winfree, K. Elliott Cramer

Proceedings Volume 1682, (1992) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.58533

KEYWORDS: Image processing, Infrared imaging, Thermography, Infrared radiation, Inspection, Nondestructive evaluation, Imaging systems, Visualization, Temperature metrology, Aluminum

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Proceedings Article | 1 April 1992 Paper

Thermographic imaging of cracks in thin metal sheets

K. Elliott Cramer, William Winfree, Patricia Howell, Hazari Syed, Keith Renouard

Proceedings Volume 1682, (1992) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.58532

KEYWORDS: Image filtering, Metals, Heat flux, Aluminum, Imaging systems, Video, Image processing, Infrared imaging, Image analysis, Radiometry

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Proceedings Article | 1 March 1990 Paper

Material property measurements with post-processed thermal image data

Christopher Welch, William Winfree, D. Michele Heath, K. Elliott Cramer, Patricia Howell

Proceedings Volume 1313, (1990) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.21921

KEYWORDS: Thermal modeling, Thermography, Data modeling, Imaging systems, Nondestructive evaluation, Video, Signal to noise ratio, Convolution, Statistical analysis, Interference (communication)

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