High Temperature Fiberoptic Thermal Imaging System

A prototype high temperature, single optical fiber thermal imaging system will be developed, tested, and delivered to GRC. The components of the instrument will be specified in detail, designed, fabricated, and purchased where appropriate. The illumination and imaging system will be assembled and system tests will be performed. Given a set of calibration images produced by the diagnostic, the image analysis needed to recover a thermal image of a surface will be developed and demonstrated. System resolution tests will be performed. The thermal imaging laboratory system will be modified to be appropriate to a prototype commercial instrument. The thermal imaging prototype will be tested and debugged at Thoughtventions and its operating characteristics defined. The thermal imaging system and operating manual will be completed and delivered and field tested at GRC for their ongoing use.

The primary NASA application is to jet engine turbine and combustor ground test facilities. In particular the Phase 2 prototype will be installed and tested at an engine test facility at GRC. The generic application is to high temperature facilities with limited optical analysis where thermal mapping is crucial for equipment diagnosis.

Commercially, TvU envisions producing a Fiber Thermal Imaging Systems for sale initially to NASA, the Air Force, and to companies such as Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Rolls Royce, and SNECMA for use in their jet engine research programs and later their production. Pratt & Whitney has provided a letter of support for Phase 2 development and hopefully will be one of our first commercial Phase 3 customers. They plan to apply the instrument to improve turbine and combustor designs to improve the F135 and NGPF maintenance costs. Their future programs needing the diagnostic may include JSF Growth, Navy Unmanned Combat Air Systems (UCAS), VAATE, and Next Generation Long Range Strike (NGLRS) initiatives.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.