SBIR-STTR Award

The implementation of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems into naval applications has been hindered due to component quantity, including sensors, power/communication cables, and acquisition/computation units, as well as data quality. Particularly for large-area applications such ship hulls, complexity of implied system infrastructure can be impractical, and data can be worthless with attenuation and EMI pickup on long analog cables. The payoff of reliable real-time SHM would be the ability to detect/characterize in-situ damage for condition-based maintenance, thereby greatly reducing overall life-cycle costs. Metis Design Corporation (MDC) has demonstrated point-of-measurement datalogging and digital sensor-busing during prior Phase II SBIR work, which minimizes SHM infrastructure and EMI susceptibility. During the proposed STTR effort, MDC will further exploit this SHM architecture to satisfy Navy mission requirements. Phase I will have 2 main research thrusts: optimization of an impedance-based damage characterization method, and development of diagnostic visualization tools. UCSD will adapt their piezo-impedance method to be compatible with MDC hardware, optimize size/placement, and develop/calibrate diagnostic algorithms. MDC will facilitate the UCSD detection method with their mature SHM infrastructure, and provide a state-of-the-art graphical interface for visualization of diagnostic results in support of blind validation testing. Phase II would extend this tool to include prognostics.

Benefit:
Once successfully demonstrated through a Phase II effort, there exists a broad commercial market for this SHM system. One of the key success factors for this technology is its versatility; the ability not only to be integrated into new applications, but to be retrofitted into an existing assets. The first obvious markets outside of Naval vessels would be both commercial and military aerospace applications. Beyond traditional airframes there exists a broad commercial market for SHM. MDC has had prior work with the NRO, who would use this technology for DoD ELVs. UAVs would also be good platforms since they may be stored for long periods of time before being deployed. Military aircraft are in desperate need of this technology to monitor ageing platforms, and airlines that chose to use these systems would be able to reduce the number and time of required inspections, which would also give them the opportunity cost to capture profit due to more up-time. Once SHM technologies have been proven in naval & aerospace applications and have been around long enough to reduce their cost of implementation, systems such as these will likely be utilized in many automotive and civil applications soon thereafter.

Keywords:
Monitoring, Monitoring, HUMS, Guided waves, Algorithms, Sensors, SHM, damgage detection, impedance measurement

This proposal presents an optimized approach for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of naval assets. This research leverages hardware previously developed by Metis Design Corporation (MDC), including distributed digitization hardware, piezoelectric-based damage-localization sensors, and a data accumulation hub. Collaborating with UCSD, there were three main thrusts for the Phase I research: sensor placement optimization using a Bayesian risk minimization approach, guided wave-based algorithm development using a hybrid phase coherent/incoherent approach, and data visualization using a sonar-image reconstruction approach. This Phase I culminated in a blind demonstration of the technology on a large aluminum plate, detecting and illustrating multiple damage locations introduced by Navy staff. This Phase II effort will seek to mature this approach to be suitable for deployment on multiple naval platforms. The initial task will focus on compensation for environmental and operational loading conditions. The second task will focus on developing robust generic tools that could be used for SHM system design, algorithm calibration and visualization customization. The final task option will provide validation for these tools including the compensation elements on large-scale components in the laboratory and then in a relevant environment. At the completion of the program, this SHM system will be available for navy fleet deployment.

Benefit:
Once successfully demonstrated through a Phase II effort, there exists a broad commercial market for this SHM system. One of the key success factors for this technology is its versatility; the ability not only to be integrated into new applications, but to be retrofitted into an existing assets. The first obvious markets outside of Naval vessels would be both commercial and military aerospace applications. Military aircraft are in desperate need of this technology to monitor ageing platforms, and airlines that chose to use these systems would be able to reduce the number and time of required inspections, which would also give them the opportunity cost to capture profit due to more up-time. Beyond traditional airframes there exists a broad commercial market for SHM. MDC has had prior work with the NRO, who would use this technology for DoD ELVs. UAVs would also be good platforms since they may be stored for long periods of time before being deployed. Once SHM technologies have been proven in naval & aerospace applications and have been around long enough to reduce their cost of implementation, systems such as these will likely be utilized in many automotive and civil applications soon thereafter. MDC has a clear path towards commercialization for their technology, which is covered by multiple patents and patent applications. MDC will work together with industry partners such to determine the best approach to configuring the supply chain for this SHM system. Currently, MDC fabricates prototype systems in-house by outsourcing many of the components and then integrating them in-house. The primary revenue stream for MDC will be royalties from the patented technology, however in addition MDC will capture revenue from supplying, customizing and maintaining the software to interface with the system. This initial target will be for primary Navy applications such as LCS, BAMS and H-53K, however there are several other commercial and military fixed & rotary-wing vehicles that have expressed interest thereafter, both manned & unmanned to improve reliability and asset readiness

Keywords:
Sensors, structural health monitoring, Guided waves, CAN bus, damage detection, Condition Based Maintenance, Lamb waves, data visualization