Smart Tape For Structural Health Monitoring of Rocket Engines

Acellent Technologies, Inc. proposes to develop a SMART TAPE system that can be used to perform rapid non-destructive evaluation in real time and provide long-term monitoring of pressure vessels in liquid rocket engines. Based on Acellent's existing SMART Layer technology, this innovative system combines a sensor network, dedicated signal processing and data analysis software to allow for real-time in-situ monitoring and long term tracking of structural integrity of pressure vessels (such as ducts, manifolds and combustion chambers) in rocket engines. Specifically, the proposed structural health monitoring system will have the following unique features: ? Ability to detect cracks and corrosion? Prevent imminent and catastrophic failures in rocket engines? Survive harsh environments and missions? Inspect inaccessible areas without disassemblyThe proposed innovation is important since it will address the need for safe as well as reliable advanced space exploration vehicle/propulsion systems as part of the human and robotic technology (HR&T) objectives of NASA's Space Exploration Initiative. As part of the latter objective, approaches to verify and validate the proposed structural health monitoring system with an integrated propulsion and vehicle real-time health management system simulator will be defined and evaluated.