Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Determination of Surface Defects in Large Metallic Structures using Ultrasonic Guided Waves

Ultrasonic guided wave (UGW) is one of the most commonly used technologies for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) of structural components. Because of its excellent long-range diagnostic capability, this method is effective in detecting cracks, material loss, and fatigue-based defects in isotropic and anisotropic structures. The shape and orientation of structural defects are critical parameters during the investigation of crack propagation, assessment of damage severity, and prediction of remaining useful life (RUL) of structures. These parameters become even more important in cases where the crack intensity is associated with the safety of men, environment, and material, such as ship’s hull, aero-structures, rail tracks and subsea pipelines. This paper reviews the research literature on UGWs and their application in defect diagnosis and health monitoring of metallic structures. It has been observed that no significant research work has been convened to identify the shape and orientation of defects in plate-like structures. We also propose an experimental research work assisted by numerical simulations to investigate the response of UGWs upon interaction with cracks in different shapes and orientations. A framework for an empirical model may be considered to determine these structural flaws

Composite repair and remanufacturing.

For the reuse of components and structures made of fiber composite materials, a complete remanufacturing process chain is necessary to prepare the parts for a further life cycle. The first step is to dismantle the parts to be reused. Fiber composite components are mostly joined using adhesive technology, so that solution techniques are required for adhesive connections. One possibility is the separation of the adhesive layer by means of thermally expanding particles. Adhesive residues are removed by laser so that the components can be glued again after reprocessing. The decisive factor for which process is used for the remanufacturing of the components is the state at the end of the life cycle. Non-destructive testing methods offer a very good option for detecting damage, planning necessary repairs and direct reuse of damage-free components. Repairs to fiber composite structures have been carried out in aviation for a long time and are accordingly established. These processes can be transferred to the repair of automotive fiber composite components. Many technical solutions were developed and tested as part of the project. Future research work is aimed at further development, particularly with regard to the automation of the technologies in order to enable an industrial application of the recycling of automobile components made of fiber composites

The NASA SBIR product catalog

The purpose of this catalog is to assist small business firms in making the community aware of products emerging from their efforts in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. It contains descriptions of some products that have advanced into Phase 3 and others that are identified as prospective products. Both lists of products in this catalog are based on information supplied by NASA SBIR contractors in responding to an invitation to be represented in this document. Generally, all products suggested by the small firms were included in order to meet the goals of information exchange for SBIR results. Of the 444 SBIR contractors NASA queried, 137 provided information on 219 products. The catalog presents the product information in the technology areas listed in the table of contents. Within each area, the products are listed in alphabetical order by product name and are given identifying numbers. Also included is an alphabetical listing of the companies that have products described. This listing cross-references the product list and provides information on the business activity of each firm. In addition, there are three indexes: one a list of firms by states, one that lists the products according to NASA Centers that managed the SBIR projects, and one that lists the products by the relevant Technical Topics utilized in NASA's annual program solicitation under which each SBIR project was selected

Ground Robotic Hand Applications for the Space Program study (GRASP)

This document reports on a NASA-STDP effort to address research interests of the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) through a study entitled, Ground Robotic-Hand Applications for the Space Program (GRASP). The primary objective of the GRASP study was to identify beneficial applications of specialized end-effectors and robotic hand devices for automating any ground operations which are performed at the Kennedy Space Center. Thus, operations for expendable vehicles, the Space Shuttle and its components, and all payloads were included in the study. Typical benefits of automating operations, or augmenting human operators performing physical tasks, include: reduced costs; enhanced safety and reliability; and reduced processing turnaround time

Robotix-Academy Conference for Industrial Robotics (RACIR) 2019

Robotix-Academy Conference for Industrial Robotics (RACIR) is held in University of Liège, Belgium, during June 05, 2019. The topics concerned by RACIR are: robot design, robot kinematics/dynamics/control, system integration, sensor/ actuator networks, distributed and cloud robotics, bio-inspired systems, service robots, robotics in automation, biomedical applications, autonomous vehicles (land, sea and air), robot perception, manipulation with multi-finger hands, micro/nano systems, sensor information, robot vision, multimodal interface and human-robot interaction.

Industrial automation and control in hazardous nuclear environments

textThis report discusses the design and implementation of an automated system for use in geometrically-constrained, hazardous glovebox environments. This system’s purpose is to reduce a hemispherical plutonium pit into smaller pieces that fit inside of a crucible. The size reduction of plutonium pits supports stockpile stewardship efforts by the United States Department of Energy. The automation of this process increases the safety of radiation workers by handling radioactive nuclear material. This decreases glovebox worker dose and exposure to tools, sharps, and fines. This effort examines the hardware and software framework developed to support the use of a Port Deployed Manipulator (PDM) for a contact task. This research effort uses a 7 Degree-of-Freedom (DOF) PDM and a micropunch to reduce hemispherical pit surrogates. Formulation of the material reduction execution algorithm involved addressing a variety of topics related to industrial automation: 1. Collision detection and object recognition based on user-specified parameters. 2. Joint torque monitoring 3. Online motion planning for contact tasks 4. Object-in-hand industrial manufacturing 5. Grasping and handling of nuclear material 6. Software compliance via robust nonlinear control methods A high-bandwidth collision detection algorithm involving joint torque monitoring was developed to increase robot safety during operation. The motion planning algorithm developed for this effort takes variable geometric properties to be used with a range of hemishells. The algorithm’s feasibility was validated on a hardware test bed in a laboratory setting. Hardware cold tests conclude that mechanical compliance is sufficient for task completion. However, software compliance would increase performance, ef- ficiency, and safety during task execution. Two different nonlinear force control laws (feedback linearization and sliding mode control) that minimize object shear forces were developed using a simplified material reduction simulation. It is recommended that glovebox automation research continue to increase worker safety throughout the DOE complex.Mechanical Engineerin