Bridges Structural Health Monitoring and Deterioration Detection Synthesis of Knowledge and Technology

INE/AUTC 10.0

DISTRIBUTED ELECTRO-MECHANICAL ACTUATION AND SENSING SYSTEM DESIGN FOR MORPHING STRUCTURES

Smart structures, able to sense changes of their own state or variations of the environment they’re in, and capable of intervening in order to improve their performance, find themselves in an ever-increasing use among numerous technology fields, opening new frontiers within advanced structural engineering and materials science. Smart structures represent of course a current challenge for the application on the aircrafts. A morphing structure can be considered as the result of the synergic integration of three main systems: the structural system, based on reliable kinematic mechanisms or on compliant elements enabling the shape modification, the actuation and control systems, characterized by embedded actuators and robust control strategies, and the sensing system, usually involving a network of sensors distributed along the structure to monitor its state parameters. Technologies with ever increasing maturity level are adopted to assure the consolidation of products in line with the aeronautical industry standards and fully compliant with the applicable airworthiness requirements. Until few years ago, morphing wing technology appeared an utopic solution. In the aeronautical field, airworthiness authorities demand a huge process of qualification, standardization, and verification. Essential components of an intelligent structure are sensors and actuators. The actual technological challenge, envisaged in the industrial scenario of “more electric aircraft”, will be to replace the heavy conventional hydraulic actuators with a distributed strategy comprising smaller electro-mechanical actuators. This will bring several benefit at the aircraft level: firstly, fuel savings. Additionally, a full electrical system reduces classical drawbacks of hydraulic systems and overall complexity, yielding also weight and maintenance benefits. At the same time, a morphing structure needs a real-time strain monitoring system: a nano-engineered polymer capable of densely distributed strain sensing can be a suitable solution for this kind of flying systems. Piezoresistive carbon nanotubes can be integrated as thin films coated and integrated with composite to form deformable self-sensing materials. The materials actually become sensors themselves without using external devices, embedded or attached. This doctoral thesis proposes a multi-disciplinary investigation of the most modern actuation and sensing technologies for variable-shaped devices mainly intended for large commercial aircraft. The personal involvement in several research projects with numerous international partners - during the last three years - allowed for exploiting engineering outcomes in view of potential certification and industrialization of the studied solutions. Moving from a conceptual survey of the smart systems that introduces the idea of adaptive aerodynamic surfaces and main research challenges, the thesis presents (Chapter 1) the current worldwide status of morphing technologies as well as industrial development expectations. The Ph.D. programme falls within the design of some of the most promising and potentially flyable solutions for performance improvement of green regional aircrafts. A camber-morphing aileron and a multi-modal flap are herein analysed and assessed as subcomponents involved for the realization of a morphing wing. An innovative camber-morphing aileron was proposed in CRIAQ MD0-505, a joint Canadian and Italian research project. Relying upon the experimental evidence within the present research, the issue appeared concerns the critical importance of considering the dynamic modelling of the actuators in the design phase of a smart device. The higher number of actuators involved makes de facto the morphing structure much more complex. In this context (Chapter 2), the action of the actuators has been modelled within the numerical model of the aileron: the comparison between the modal characteristics of numerical predictions and testing activities has shown a high level of correlation. Morphing structures are characterized by many more degrees of freedom and increased modal density, introducing new paradigms about modelling strategies and aeroelastic approaches. These aspects affect and modify many aspects of the traditional aeronautical engineering process, like simulation activity, design criteria assessment, and interpretation of the dynamic response (Chapter 3). With respect the aforementioned aileron, sensitivity studies were carried out in compliance with EASA airworthiness requirements to evaluate the aero-servo-elastic stability of global system with respect to single and combined failures of the actuators enabling morphing. Moreover, the jamming event, which is one of the main drawbacks associated with the use of electro-mechanical actuators, has been duly analyzed to observe any dynamic criticalities. Fault & Hazard Analysis (FHA) have been therefore performed as the basis for application of these devices to real aircraft. Nevertheless, the implementation of an electro-mechanical system implies several challenges related to the integration at aircraft system level: the practical need for real-time monitoring of morphing devices, power absorption levels and dynamic performance under aircraft operating conditions, suggest the use of a ground-based engineering tool, i.e. “iron bird”, for the physical integration of systems. Looking in this perspective, the Chapter 4 deals with the description of an innovative multi-modal flap idealized in the Clean Sky - Joint Technology Initiative research scenario. A distributed gear-drive electro-mechanical actuation has been fully studied and validated by an experimental campaign. Relying upon the experience gained, the encouraging outcomes led to the second stage of the project, Clean Sky 2 - Airgreen 2, encompassing the development of a more robotized flap for next regional aircraft. Numerical and experimental activities have been carried out to support the health management process in order to check the EMAs compatibility with other electrical systems too. A smart structure as a morphing wing needs an embedded sensing system in order to measure the actual deformation state as well as to “monitor” the structural conditions. A new possible approach in order to have a distributed light-weight system consists in the development of polymer-based materials filled with conductive smart fillers such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The thesis ends with a feasibility study about the incorporation of carbon nanomaterials into flexible coatings for composite structures (Chapter 5). Coupons made of MWCNTs embedded in typical aeronautic epoxy formulation were prepared and tested under different conditions in order to better characterize their sensing performance. Strain sensing properties were compared to commercially available strain gages and fiber optics. The results were obtained in the last training year following the involvement of the author in research activities at the University of Salerno and Materials and Structures Centre - University of Bath. One of the issues for the next developments is to consolidate these novel technologies in the current and future European projects where the smart structures topic is considered as one of the priorities for the new generation aircrafts. It is remarkable that scientists and aeronautical engineers community does not stop trying to create an intelligent machine that is increasingly inspired by nature. The spirit of research, the desire to overcome limits and a little bit of imagination are surely the elements that can guide in achieving such an ambitious goal

Characterization of the Dynamics of Optically-Injected Nanostructure Lasers

The direct-modulation of semiconductor lasers is the simplest and most compact approach to pass data onto an optical fiber; however, their intrinsic limitations under direct-modulation such as wavelength chirp and inherent relaxation oscillation frequency constraints impede their high-speed and long-distance capabilities. The injection-locking of semiconductor lasers improves the injected laser\u27s operational characteristics under direct-modulation, attracting a large degree of interest over the past decade. These improvements include increasing the modulation bandwidth through the enhancement of the resonance frequency, suppressing nonlinear distortion, and reducing relative intensity noise, mode-hopping, and chirp. The nonlinear dynamics associated with optically-injected semiconductor lasers has also attracted great interest due to potential applications including: all-optical amplitude-modulation to frequency-modulation conversion, chaotic-communication, and photonic microwave generation. In this dissertation, the optical-injection of quantum-dash and quantum-dot Fabry-Perot semiconductor lasers is investigated in the context of modeling the impact of their characteristically large nonlinear gain component. The impact of the large degree of gain compression on the differential and nonlinear carrier relaxation rates observed in nanostructure lasers under large operational photon densities is also investigated under strong optical-injection conditions. A novel small-signal microwave modulation response function is derived and shown to improve upon current models at modeling the microwave modulation response under optical-injection. The nonlinear dynamics observed under weak injection strengths are theoretically analyzed using a novel dimensionless rate equation model where including the impact of the nonlinear carrier relaxation rate is shown to improve the agreement with experimentally collected data. The novel tools derived to analyze the operation of the optically-injected system encompass the physical nature of the injected laser in a more complete manner than previously derived approaches. Theoretical predictions derived here show that large nonlinear carrier relaxation rates, along with suitably small linewidth enhancement parameter values of nanostructure lasers suppress the instability of the optically-injected system. The quantum-dash laser\u27s potential for implementation as a tunable photonic oscillator for use in radio-over-fiber applications or directly-modulated slave laser in a coherent optical communication system is described, along with the quantum-dot laser\u27s highly stable operation under optical-injection

A novel haptic model and environment for maxillofacial surgical operation planning and manipulation

This paper presents a practical method and a new haptic model to support manipulations of bones and their segments during the planning of a surgical operation in a virtual environment using a haptic interface. To perform an effective dental surgery it is important to have all the operation related information of the patient available beforehand in order to plan the operation and avoid any complications. A haptic interface with a virtual and accurate patient model to support the planning of bone cuts is therefore critical, useful and necessary for the surgeons. The system proposed uses DICOM images taken from a digital tomography scanner and creates a mesh model of the filtered skull, from which the jaw bone can be isolated for further use. A novel solution for cutting the bones has been developed and it uses the haptic tool to determine and define the bone-cutting plane in the bone, and this new approach creates three new meshes of the original model. Using this approach the computational power is optimized and a real time feedback can be achieved during all bone manipulations. During the movement of the mesh cutting, a novel friction profile is predefined in the haptical system to simulate the force feedback feel of different densities in the bone

Technology for large space systems: A special bibliography with indexes (supplement 03)

A bibliography containing 217 abstracts addressing the technology for large space systems is presented. State of the art and advanced concepts concerning interactive analysis and design, structural concepts, control systems, electronics, advanced materials, assembly concepts, propulsion, solar power satellite systems, and flight experiments are represented

Aerospace medicine and biology. A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 206, May 1980

This bibliography lists 169 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in April 1980

Laser doppler vibrometer for efficient structural health monitoring

The research effort in this thesis is devoted to develop techniques to accurately and rapidly identify the location, orientation, and magnitude of the defects by using structural health monitoring concepts that use Laser Doppler Vibrometer as a non-contact sensor with multi-point sensing capability. The first research area addresses the formulation and validation of an innovative Damage Measure that is based on the ratios of the strain energy distributions of the damaged and undamaged structure. The innovations include use of a single set of actuator/sensor pair to excite and detect the responses of a structure for low frequency vibrations as well as guided wave propagation studies. A second new capability is the estimation of the Damage Measure without requiring any knowledge of the undamaged baseline structure. This method is made possible because of the development of these new technologies: Spatial Decimation and Wavenumber/Frequency filtering. The third contribution is to develop analytical models for the structural dynamics of damaged structure and seek solutions that use perturbation methods to detect damage in a plate structure. The fourth contribution is the development of a comprehensive damage detection technique over a wide frequency dynamic range. The fifth topic of research involves automation in Structural Health Monitoring based on the comprehensive Damage Measure formulation. Under the control of software the Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer is used to acquire the low frequency vibration mode data for a coarse identification of all the suspect regions of damage using a threshold criterion on the Damage Measure. Each suspect region of damage is further investigated using the high frequency elastic wave propagation to clearly identify the location, orientation, and extent of the damage. The computer control of the Laser Doppler Vibrometer and a quantitative assessment of the damage provide the enabling technologies for the automation proof of concept. Finally the developed techniques of damage detection are successfully demonstrated on practical structures such as a turbine blade in the laboratory and an F-15 vertical tail in field maintenance conditionsPh.D.Committee Chair: Hanagud, Sathya; Committee Member: Apetre, Nicole; Committee Member: Engelstad, Steve; Committee Member: Glass, Brian; Committee Member: Kardomateas, George; Committee Member: Ruzzene, Massim

Flexible structure control laboratory development and technology demonstration

An experimental structure is described which was constructed to demonstrate and validate recent emerging technologies in the active control and identification of large flexible space structures. The configuration consists of a large, 20 foot diameter antenna-like flexible structure in the horizontal plane with a gimballed central hub, a flexible feed-boom assembly hanging from the hub, and 12 flexible ribs radiating outward. Fourteen electrodynamic force actuators mounted to the hub and to the individual ribs provide the means to excite the structure and exert control forces. Thirty permanently mounted sensors, including optical encoders and analog induction devices provide measurements of structural response at widely distributed points. An experimental remote optical sensor provides sixteen additional sensing channels. A computer samples the sensors, computes the control updates and sends commands to the actuators in real time, while simultaneously displaying selected outputs on a graphics terminal and saving them in memory. Several control experiments were conducted thus far and are documented. These include implementation of distributed parameter system control, model reference adaptive control, and static shape control. These experiments have demonstrated the successful implementation of state-of-the-art control approaches using actual hardware

The 1990 Johnson Space Center bibliography of scientific and technical papers

Abstracts are presented of scientific and technical papers written and/or presented by L. B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) authors, including civil servants, contractors, and grantees, during the calendar year of 1990. Citations include conference and symposium presentations, papers published in proceedings or other collective works, seminars, and workshop results, NASA formal report series (including contractually required final reports), and articles published in professional journals

NASA SBIR abstracts of 1990 phase 1 projects

The research objectives of the 280 projects placed under contract in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 1990 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 program are described. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses in response to NASA's 1990 SBIR Phase 1 Program Solicitation. The abstracts are presented under the 15 technical topics within which Phase 1 proposals were solicited. Each project was assigned a sequential identifying number from 001 to 280, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. The document also includes Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference in the 1990 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA field center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number