SBIR-STTR Award

Our rural electric utility pole distribution system has served rural America for over 60 years. Many of the original poles from the late 1930's are still in service. The maintenance of this multi-billion dollar investment is necessary to provide reliable and inexpensive power to rural areas. Detection of decayed poles help ensure the reliability of this service as well as help ensure the safety of linemen and the public. Currently used field methods for decay detection have proven useful for detecting only advanced stages of decay. Even then, poles with advanced decay are missed by trained inspectors more often than realized. Further consider, if trained pole inspectors make all too frequent errors, what is to be the anticipated error rates for utility line workers with less experience in pole inspection- people who work on these poles often during bad weather at all hours. The proposed effort is directed at determining the feasibility of detecting decay earlier in the field via micro-toughness testing. Toughness (the ability to withstand shock loading) is the strength property most severely and rapidly diminished by decay. ANTICIPATED RESULTS & POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH The ability to extend the range of decay detection in the field should be afforded by the development of a hand-held electronic micro-toughness tester. This device should be inexpensive to manufacture, easy to use, durable for rugged field use, and, of benefit to thousands of line inspection crews and utility workers faced with deciding the condition of poles in service.