SBIR-STTR Award

Redondo Optics Inc. Proposes to develop and demonstrate to the Navy a miniature, light weight, and low power, fully integrated multi-channel hybrid PZT/FBG acousto-ultrasound (FAULSense) SHM system for the in-situ un-attended detection, identification, and localization of structural damage in advance Navy structures. The distributed FAULSense system uses a network of PZT actuators for the controlled excitation of acoustic waveform signals and a distributed array of FBG acoustic-ultrasound sensors for the global detection and measurement of the excitation structure response. In Phase I, ROI will design, assemble, and produce a working prototype of the hybrid FAULSense early warning damage detection SHM system and test it on a simulated aircraft structure to demonstrate its ability to detect and localized hidden structural damage. In Phase II, ROI with the support of Sikorsky team, it will produce a stand-alone FAULSense system and tested in a relevant aircraft platform environment under a variety of passive and dynamic aerodynamic test conditions. All of the Navy current and future aircraft will benefit significantly from this project, wherein the key technological challenge is to develop methodologies for high fidelity detection and characterization of flaws and degradation in complex aerodynamic structures.

Benefit:
This project will yield a versatile and powerful SHM tool to enhance the reliability and safety of Navy aircraft structural elements (fuselage, wings, tails, rotor blades, etc) by providing comprehensive information about the structural integrity of the aircraft structure from a large number of locations. ROIs FAULSense system represents a new, innovative, and reliable solution for next generation ultra-low power, lightweight, and miniature size, and low cost fiber optic sensors applications for use in structural health monitoring, diagnosis and prognostics of DoD and commercial infrastructures. Its miniaturized package, self-power operation, state-of-the-art wireless data communications architecture, smart signal prognostics, and affordable price make it a very attractive solution for a large number of SHM/NDT applications. Immediate SHM applications are found in Navy aircraft, rotorcraft, ships, submarines, and in next generation weapon systems, and in commercial oil and petrochemical, aerospace industries, civil structures, power utilities, portable medical devices, and biotechnology, homeland security and a wide spectrum of other applications.

Keywords:
Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors, Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors, autonomous sensor, Lightweight, load environment, miniature fiber optic sensor, aircraft damage detection sensor, Ultra-low power wireless sensor, wireless SHM/NDE sensor system

Redondo Optics Inc. proposes to demonstrate and deliver to the Navy a miniature, light weight, and low power, fully integrated multi-channel hybrid PZT/FBG acousto-ultrasound (FAULSense) SHM system suitable for the in-situ early warning detection, identification, and localization of structural damage in advance Navy structures. The distributed FAULSense system uses a network of PZT actuators for the controlled excitation of acoustic waveform signals and a distributed array of FBG acoustic-ultrasound sensors for the global detection of the excitation structure response. In Phase II, ROI with the support of Sikorsky, will engineer and produce a stand-alone FAULSense SHM system and tested in a relevant aircraft platform environment under a variety of passive and dynamic aerodynamic test conditions. In the Phase II.5, ROI with the support of the Navy Program Management team, other DoD helicopter branches, and Sikorsky will transition the FAULSense SHM technology to a higher level of technology readiness (TRL 7-9) by conducting ground and flight tests on a relevant rotorcraft platform. All of the Navy current and future aircraft will benefit significantly from this project, wherein the key technological challenge is to develop methodologies for high fidelity detection and characterization of flaws and degradation in complex aerodynamic structures.

Benefit:
This project will yield a versatile and powerful SHM tool to enhance the reliability and safety of Navy aircraft structural elements (fuselage, wings, tails, rotor blades, etc) by providing comprehensive information about the structural integrity of the aircraft structure from a large number of locations. ROIs FAULSense system represents a new, innovative, and reliable solution for next generation ultra-low power, lightweight, and miniature size, and low cost fiber optic sensors applications for use in structural health monitoring, diagnosis and prognostics of DoD and commercial infrastructures. Its miniaturized package, self-power operation, state-of-the-art wireless data communications architecture, smart signal prognostics, and affordable price make it a very attractive solution for a large number of SHM/NDT applications. Immediate SHM applications are found in Navy aircraft, rotorcraft, ships, submarines, and in next generation weapon systems, and in commercial oil and petrochemical, aerospace industries, civil structures, power utilities, portable medical devices, and biotechnology, homeland security and a wide spectrum of other applications.

Keywords:
wireless SHM/NDE sensor system, load environment, fiber Bragg grating sensors., Ultra-low power wireless sensor, aircraft damage detection sensor, miniature fiber optic sensor, autonomous sensor, Lightweight