Structural Diagnostics Using Nonlinear Analysis and Distributed Sensor Arrays

The safety and performance of all commercial, civil, and military structural dynamic systems deteriorate with time. Because current inspection procedures are time consuming, costly, insensitive to small variations in structural health, and prone to error in severe and mild operating environments, there are urgent economic and technological needs to deploy automated structural diagnostic instrumentation for seamless evaluation of structural integrity and reliability. The proposed collaborative research and business initiative between The Modal Shop and Purdue University will develop and validate techniques for structural Diagnostics using Nonlinear Analysis (sDNA) in conjunction with smart wireless sensor arrays. Significant innovations include the processing algorithm for characterizing the existence and extent of damage in passive/active operating modes while accommodating nonlinearity and uncertainty, and the processing architecture, which is distributed across a network of measurement packets and decision-making nodes. Phase I R&D will culminate in an informative report, strong justification and preliminary plan for Phase II, and a simple prototype to demonstrate important features of the proposed product. Successful efforts in Phases II-III will produce flexible turn-key on-line structural health and condition monitoring devices, which will benefit the sponsoring agency directly while securing The Modal Shop a competitive edge in a rapidly expanding marketplace.