Rapid In-Place Composite Rotor Damage Detection

Luna Innovations is proposing to further develop the Rapid In-Place Composite Rotor Damage Detection (RIPCoRDD) System for determining and tracking the structural health of composite rotorcraft blades and other composite structures. There is a need for accurate, reliable assessments of the condition of composite parts which may have been damaged through impacts, fatigue, or abrasion. This is especially true for cases in which the damage may not be visible from the surface. The RIPCoRDD system is designed such that it will enable composite rotor damage detection in seconds with absolutely no increase in weight, power consumption, or volume of the rotorcraft. The core of the RIPCoRDD device is a unique, distributed, high-definition fiber optic strain sensor (HD-FOS) which provides spatially dense strain measurements (every 1.25-2.5 mm) within the composite structure, coupled with a ground based installation of Luna's proven optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) instrumentation. Commercialization will focus on transitioning the technology first to OEM manufacturers for non-destructive inspection applications, followed by deployment to rotorcraft end users for lifetime monitoring and diagnostics.