SHM system for Hypersonic Vehicles

The U.S. hypersonic ground- and flight-test communities require robust structural sensors that operate in relevant hypersonic environments. The focus of this project is the development of vehicle structural health monitoring (SHM) systems for use with hypersonic vehicles in extreme environments (e.g., high thermal, vibrational, and acoustic environments). For hypersonic vehicles in order to deploy SHM systems through a wide range of environmental conditions experienced by the vehicle, it is crucial to develop hardware that can function at those temperatures in addition to robust structural monitoring algorithms. The key to this is the development of sensor systems that can survive the harsh usage conditions and the extreme working environments. This program will develop Bismuth Scandium Lead Titanate based SHM systems for Hypersonic Vehicles. The goal will be to develop SHM systems that will include 3 major components a. High-temperature sensors: a flexible sensor layer with BSPT sensors fabricated for use in hypersonic vehicle nonablative areas facing temperatures approx. 600 C . A novel manufacturing process will be developed during the SBIR to enable the production and packaging of the sensors along with methods for their installation in the high temperature areas. b. Data-Acquisition (DAQ): a passive-active electronic module that interfaces with the BSPT sensors will be developed that will use ultrasound induced transducers combined with low to high frequency data collectors. c. SHM Software: advanced algorithms to detect, characterize, and track damage (including impacts, cracks, disbonds, etc.) along with an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI). Physics-informed diagnostic software will be developed to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) using the data from the sensors to detect damage under extreme environment and to characterize environmental conditions through ML techniques.