Energy Harvesting, Wireless Structural Health Monitoring System for Helicopter Rotors

Veraphotonics proposes to develop a low weight, high-speed structural health monitoring system capable of measuring load, vibration, and acoustic emission (AE) responses corresponding to damages occurring in advanced materials and structures. Our novel sensing system consists of a fiber bragg grating (FBG) sensor array interrogated by a low-cost, light-weight, low-power miniaturized stand-alone laser based detection system combined with state-of-the-art multichannel wireless data acquisition node and high-performance energy harvesters. Veraphotonics novel sensor interrogation technology offers a number of advantages including compact sensors and low-power, lightweight sensor interrogation instrument which incorporates closed loop feedback control algorithms for robust sensor wavelength demodulation integrated with power conditioning for energy harvesting power management. In Phase I, we will demonstrate the muti-channel interrogation system"s capability to wirelessly measure load, vibration, and AE response combined with energy harvesting power management for monitoring composite rotor blade structures under loading. In Phase II, the self-powered multifunctional sensor device will be developed for field use to monitor load history and detect damage presence and locations in helicopter rotor blades.