Open Competition 1 - Electronics and Photonics

Development of Structural Health Monitoring Systems Using SMART Layer Technology

Sponsor: Acellent Technology, Inc.

• Project Performance Period: 9/1/2001 - 8/31/2004
• Total project (est.): $2,720,000.00
• Requested ATP funds: $2,000,000.00

Structural safety and reliability is a paramount concern in industries such as aeronautics, but few non-destructive tools are available to provide continuous parts monitoring, inspection, and damage detection at low cost. Acellent Technologies Inc. proposes to develop reliable, cost-effective technologies and processes for making a "smart" sensor system that can be built into or upon metal and composite structures to monitor their integrity in real time, as a means of prolonging lifespan, reducing downtime, and preventing catastrophic failure. The system will be based on the company's existing "SMART Layer{Tm} technology" consisting of a network of piezoelectric sensors and actuators embedded on a thin dielectric carrier film, which can be either surface mounted or integrated into a structure during fabrication. The system will automatically instruct actuators to generate diagnostic signals and transmit them to neighboring sensors, whose responses will be obtained remotely and interpreted by a diagnostic instrument to generate information about structural changes due to loads, damage, or changes in material properties. Technical challenges include the development of microfabrication techniques, integration of the wireless monitoring layer into structural shapes, and conversion of the sensory data into diagnostic information. Oak Ridge National Laboratories (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, Ala.) will be subcontracted to assist with the development of matchbox-size wireless data acquisition and telemetry systems. The project also will make use of the nanofabrication facility at Stanford Univerity. The ATP funding will accelerate the research by several years and enable Acellent to develop technology that is broadly applicable rather than narrowly tailored to a single funding company or industry. If successfully developed and commercialized, the new technology will be marketed initially for retrofitting new and aging aircraft to monitor crack growth and condition of inaccessible parts, resulting in substantial economic savings due to reduced labor costs and faster inspections and prevention of accidents, deaths, and injuries due to failure of aircraft components. The technology also has applications in the aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, and civil infrastructure industries.

For project information:

Mark Lin, (408) 745-1188
marklin@acellent.com

ATP Project Manager

H. Felix Wu, (301) 975-4685
felix.wu@nist.gov