SBIR Phase II: Automated Structural Health Monitoring Sensor

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II research project will support the development of a new automated structural health monitoring (SHM) sensor system capable of detecting cracks and measuring stress in advanced structures. Current electrically-based SHM instrument is bulky and expensive. With the increase of sensing points and structure size, the amount of cabling, weight, and cost for hardware increases dramatically. This instrument combines optical waveguides and fibers, and Bragg Gratings (BG) with a low-cost, rugged light source to yield a SHM instrument capable of continuous measurements in the field with high precision and sensitivity. Phase II research will develop a field-tested 8-channel BG-based SHM instrument for simultaneous crack detection and loading stress measurements in large structures. This novel SHM instrumentation will offer significant cost saving by providing a low cost solution for crack detection in large airframe structures such as wings, fuselage, and lap joints, as well as in civil structures such as oil pipelines, bridges, freeways, plants and buildings. The new sensor technology will enhance public safety as a result of low-cost condition-based maintenance and effective warning systems due to the sensor instrument's accurate prognosis and early prediction of catastrophic failures in large public transportation and utility systems.