Research help - "Seeing" inside an object.

[ohmdr]

Dear engineering friends, I have a unique challenge and have come asking for help.

In 2008 I purchased a very unique, truely one of a kind car that began life in 1951. I have been doing research on it since I purhcased it and I feel that it is my duty to try and find out who designed it, what their vision was, complete the build (yes, it is 60 years old and has never been finished) and give recognition to the original designer/engineer.

Here is where I need help though. The car has an "unusual" trait, which I believe is a clue. The body is fiberglass, but there is a penny embedded in the body between several layers. I would like to know if, and what, tools exist that would allow me to get a good image of the penny. Primarily I need to see what year is on the penny. - I know the "easy" way to find this out would be to cut the penny out, remove the fiberglass material around it, and then put it back in. My problem with that is that the repair area will not match, as you can't get 60 year old fiberglass material, and it invalidates and compromises the integrity of the penny being "in" the car.

I'm open to ideas and suggestions on how to "see" inside the fiberglass and get an image of the penny.

Here is a link a article, published in December 2009, about the car and my research.

http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com?p=837

 

[MikeHalloran]

Parlor trick: To see if your TV remote is working, press a button while watching the emitter through a digital camera's viewfinder. They can see infrared

Long shot: Heat the area around the penny a bit and take a picture of it with a digital camera.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[CoryPad]

X-ray and ultrasound techniques could be used.

 

[ohmdr]

Mike,

I've played with digital cameras and IR light and usually it is just a bright spot. Still, I can take a penny I have laying around, put it between some fiberglass and resin it in. Then I can play with your idea and see if it would work. As you say, long shot, but worth exploring/playing with. The worst I can do is be out a penny and the cost of some glass and resin.

Cory,

I checked with a doctor, and the x-ray won't do it. It will only show up as a "spot" on the screen or film.

A high school friend who is a veternarian has a portable ultrasound machine, but said it won't give good enough detail. He said an MRI might be able to do the job, but getting a 13' x 6' car body into a hospital, and/or finding a unit that is big enough to put it into probably won't happen anytime soon.

Great thoughts and ideas, both of you.

 

[mrfailure]

Just to throw a wacky idea out here:

What about gingerly heating the area (certainly not enough to do any damage) and using infrared thermography to watch the area as it heats? I understand this technique is getting much more sensitive; you might be able to make out the year of the penny as the ridge heat up.

Aaron Tanzer

http://www.lehightesting.com

 

[CoryPad]

A veterinarian ultrasound device is not what I had in mind. Rather, a c-scan device from Sonoscan.

 

[racookpe1978]

Take the section off and bring it to your dentist's office.

Put it in the chair, strap it down and pay your dentist to use their X-ray machine.

 

[redpicker]

X-ray should be able to reveal the detail you want. It may take a bit of experimenting to get the right intensity/exposure, but the markings on the coin (are you sure it is a US penny?) should be resolvable. Call around to some NDE outfits that do field radiographic inspection of welds. You might find someone who would be willing to work with you on the problem.

rp

 

[1gibson]

This sounds like excellent publicity for any NDE outfit that is able to get you results. Call around and ask for marketing people, they love gimmicks like this.

 

[deadrange]

About 20 years ago I did my senior project looking at the interface between Titanium and Ceramic material using a Scanning Ultrasonic Microscope. This is testing my memory, but I recall during my orientation to the instrument one of the key things was it was able to detect the profile of an embedded object. I am not sure how many of these microscopes exist or even if the one I used is still operational.