OBJECTIVE 1: DESIGN AND DEVELOP WIRELESS ULTRASONIC ACTUATORS/SENSORS THAT CAN GENERATE ULTRASONIC GUIDED W…

Public award description

OBJECTIVE 1: DESIGN AND DEVELOP WIRELESS ULTRASONIC ACTUATORS/SENSORS THAT CAN GENERATE ULTRASONIC GUIDED WAVES AND RECEIVE THE WAVEFORMS FOR DEFECT INSPECTION IN A LARGE STRUCTURE AREA OR INACCESSIBLE AIRCRAFT COMPONENTS. THE SENSORS SHOULD BE SMALL, LIGHT WEIGHT, LOW POWER CONSUMPTION AND HIGHLY RELIABLE. OBJECTIVE 2: DEVELOP A COMMON FEM-MODEL ARCHITECTURAL FRAMEWORK AND MODEL INTERFACE SPECIFICATION THAT SHALL ALLOW FOR SIMULATIONS OF ACTUATOR/SENSOR INTERACTION WITH AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES. THIS MODEL SHALL PROVIDE GUIDELINES FOR SENSOR DESIGN, SENSOR DISTRIBUTION OPTIMIZATION, INSPECTION PARAMETERS, AND DATA INTERPRETATION. OBJECTIVE 3: APPLY WIRELESS ULTRASONIC ACTUATOR/SENSOR NODES TO A REPRESENTATIVE AIRFRAME STRUCTURE IN A STAR-MESH NETWORK, DEVELOP AND TEST WIRELESS CONTROL AND DATA COMMUNICATION ARCHITECTURES UNDER THE ZIGBEE PROTOCOL. DEVELOP AND APPLY STATISTICAL BASED DEFECT IMAGING ALGORITHMS TO CHARACTERIZE STRUCTURAL DEGRADATION DUE TO IMPACT DAMAGES, CRACKS, DELAMINATIONS CORROSION OR OTHER DAMAGES. THE OBJECTIVE TO ACHIEVE IS TO FORM AN EFFICIENT WIRELESS DATA COLLECTION AND COLLABORATIVE PROCESSING NETWORK SO THAT MINIMUM POWER AND DATA ARE REQUIRED TO MONITOR A LARGE AREA. OBJECTIVE 4: VALIDATE THE WIRELESS ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER NETWORK AND ENHANCED FEM MODELS AND INTEGRATE THEM INTO AN APPROPRIATE NASA RESEARCH FACILITY TO SUPPORT NASA IN HOUSE STUDIES. 4.0 DESCRIPTION OF TASKS/TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: TASKS SHALL PROCEED ACCORDING TO THE WORK SCOPE AS DESCRIBED ABOVE. RESPECTIVE ROLES OF NASA AND THE CONTRACTOR ARE DELINEATED BELOW. TASK 4.1: ANALYZE SYSTEM REQUIREMENT THIS TASK IS TO IDENTIFY SUITABLE STRUCTURES FOR DESIGN AND TESTING THE PROPOSED WIRELESS ULTRASONIC SENSOR NETWORK SYSTEM. DEFECT TYPES, SIZE, AND SHAPE ORIENTATION SHALL BE DEFINED FOR EVALUATION PURPOSE. NASA AND THE CONTRACTOR SHALL JOINTLY DEFINE PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SENSORS AND ALGORITHMS IN TERMS OF SENSITIVITY, RESOLUTION, SENSOR DISTRIBUTION DENSITY, POWER CONSUMPTION, SIZE AND WEIGHT, AND COMMUNICATION RANGE. SURVEY AND DOCUMENT STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS OF DIFFERENT NETWORK SENSING APPROACHES. 4.1.1 THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SET UP WEBEX CONFERENCE FOR THE PROJECT KICK-OFF MEETING. NASA AND UCB SHALL ATTEND THE MEETING FOR TECHNICAL DISCUSSION. 4.1.2 THE CONTRACTOR SHALL WORK WITH NASA TO DEFINE THE SENSOR NETWORK SYSTEM PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS. 4.1.3 THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE REPRESENTATIVE SPECIMENS FOR SYSTEM EVALUATION. NASA SHALL PROVIDE INPUT FOR SPECIMEN SELECTION 4.1.4 THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE AN OVERALL SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT PLAN THAT ADDRESSES NASA'S REQUIREMENTS. TASK 4.2: PERFORM FEM SIMULATION ON THE SPECIMEN. DESIGN ULTRASONIC SENSOR AND INSPECTION APPROACH. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS (FEM) MODEL TO SIMULATE THE INTERACTION OF SENSOR WITH THE STRUCTURE SO THAT DESIRED WAVE MODE, FREQUENCIES, INSPECTION RANGES, SENSITIVITIES ETC. ARE OPTIMIZED FOR THE SENSOR AND ACTUATOR DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL USE ABAQUS IS PREFERRED FOR FINITE ELEMENT CODE FOR COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER IVHM ACTIVITIES. 4.2.1 THE CONTRACTOR SHALL BUILD A MODEL FOR THE AIRFRAME SPECIMEN; PERFORM FEM SIMULATIONS ON ULTRASONIC WAVE INTERACTION WITH THE STRUCTURE AND DEFECTS. 4.2.2 CONTRACTOR SHALL ANALYZE THE FEM SIMULATION RESULTS, REFINE AND OPTIMIZE THE SENSOR PARAMETERS FOR OPTIMAL DEFECT INSPECTION. 4.2.3. CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP A WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED TO THE AIRFRAME STRUCTURE FOR DEFECT INSPECTION. TASK 4.3: DEVELOP WIRELESS ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER NODE THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DESIGN, DEVELOP AND TEST THE WIRELESS ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER WITH SENSING AND ACTUATING CAPABILITIES FOR DAMAGE AND DEFECT DETECTION, LOCALIZATION AND SEVERITY ASSESSMENT IN AIRFRAME COMPONENTS. THE SENSOR NODE SHALL BE MADE OF A LOW COST PIEZOELECTRIC ULTRASONIC SENSING AND ACTUATING ELEMENT, A MINIATURE ULTRASONIC PULSER