Microwave and millimeter-wave non-destructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E) is generally understood to mean using high-frequency electromagnetic energy to inspect and characterize materials and structures. In spite of possessing some distinct advantages in certain applications to other NDT&E techniques, microwave NDT&E has only found compared limited practical application during the past 45 years. These advantages include lack of a need for contact between the sensor and the object being inspected, the ability to penetrate dielectric materials, and superior sensitivity to certain material constituents and flaws. One factor contributing to this minimal acceptance by the NDT &E community has been a generally poor understanding in this community of the theory and practice that underlie the technology. This situation exists partly because of a paucity of microwave NDT&E textbook and reference material. Some chapters, reviews, and books aimed at filling this need have been published in the past but, for the most part, this material is based on the use of older microwave technology. However, during the past ten years great strides have been made in ternlS of the cost, size, and ease of use of microwave components. In addition, recent advances in modeling and measurement techniques have expanded the range of applications for microwave NDT&E. Such applications include inspecting modern materials such as composites, detecting and characterizing surface flaws, and evaluating the compressive strength of cement structures. These advances have created an urgent need for up-to-date textbook material on this subject.

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Microwave testing has been paid only scant attention in the literature as a method for nondestructive testing of materials, yet it offers some attractive features, especially for the testing of composite and other non-metallic materials. Microwave techniques have been used in a large number of applications that can be classified as nondestructive testing applications, ranging from large scale remote sensing to detection of tumors in the body. This volume describes a unified approach to microwave nondestructive testing by presenting the three essential components of testing: theory, practice, and modelling. While recognizing that each of these subjects is wide enough to justify a volume of its own, the presentation of the three topics together shows that these are interrelated and should be practiced together. While few will argue against a good theoretical background, modelling and simulation of the testing environment is seldom part of the NDT training in any method, but particularly so in microwave testing. The text is devided in four parts. The first part presents the field theory background necessary for understanding the microwave domain. The second part treats microwave measurements as well as devices and sources and the third part discusses practical tests applicable to a variety of materials and geometries. The fourth part discusses modelling of microwave testing. Each chapter contains a bibliography intended to expand on the material given and, in particular, to point to subjects which could not be covered either as not appropriate or for lack of space. For engineers, applied physicsts, material scientists.

Describing NDE issues associated with real-world applications, this comprehensive book details conventional and forthcoming NDE technologies. It instructs on current practices, common techniques and equipment applications, and the potentials and limitations of current NDE methods. Each chapter details a different method, providing an overview, an e