OPTICAL FIBER SENSOR-BASED SMART MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES

SMART MATERIALS OFFER EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ADAPTIVE STRUCTURES. SMART MATERIALS ARE A NEW CLASS OF MATERIALS, WHICH CONTAIN THEIR OWN INTERNAL SENSOR, ACTUATOR AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, ELEMENTS. THESE STRUCTURALLY AND FUNCTIONALLY INTEGRATED ELEMENTS GIVE THE MATERIAL THE CAPABILITY TO DETECT CHANGES IN ITS ENVIROMENT, CHANGE ITS STRUCTURAL, ELECTROMAGNETIC AND/OR CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS, AND AUTONOMOUSLY RESPOND TO EXTERNAL STIMULI. BECAUSE OPTICAL FIBER SENSOR TECHNOLOGY IS FURTHER ALONG IN DEVELOPMENT THAN INTEGRATED, MICROSCALE, HIGH-AUTHORITY ACTUATORS, FIBER AND SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES (F&S) PROPOSES TO BEGIN WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OPTICAL FIBER SENSOR-BASED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES, AND TO DEVELOP FUNCTIMALLY INTEGRATED SMART MATERIAL SYSTEMS FROM THAT BASE. IN PHASE I, F&S AND CONSULTANTS IN THE FIBER & ELECTRO-OPTICS RESEARCH CENTER (FEORC) AT VIRGINIA TECH PROPOSE TO ADVANCE OPTICAL FIBER SENSOR ELEMENTS WHICH CAN BE UPSCALED FOR THE MATERIAL ANALYSIS AND CONTROL OF LARGE MILITARY STRUCTURES, AND TO INCORPORATE LARGE SCALE MULTIPLEXING, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING CAPABILITIES WITHIN THE SENSORS THEMSELVES. BASED UPON THAT WORK, PHASE II WOULD INVESTIGATE METHODS TO IMPLEMENT PARALLEL ACTUATOR ELEMENTS, AND TO CLOSE THE CONTROL SYSTEM LOOP USING EMBEDDED SIGNAL PROCESSING ELECTRONICS. F&S AND FEORC RESEARCHERS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED INNOVATORS IN THE FIELD OF SMART MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - THE RESULTS OF THE PROPOSED PHASE I RESEARCH PROGRAM MAY BE IMPORTANT TO THE HEALTH MONITORING AND STRUCTURAL CONTROL OF EXISTING AND NEW MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL AEROSPACE, HYDROSPACE AND CIVIL STRUCTURES. THE OPTICAL FIBER SENSORS PROPOSED WOULD BE APPLICABLE IN PARTICULAR TO LARGE SCALE STRUCTURES.