Crucial Component Damage Detection, Monitoring and Mitigation, Phase I

This SBIR project delivers an on-board structural health-monitoring (SHM) system with embedded sensors that sense mechanical impedance deviations to flag incipient damage in time to recover from or prevent in-flight failures. This Component Damage Mitigation (CDM) system integrates early damage detection with failure recovery measures such as self-healing fasteners. Implications of the innovation Next Generation Air Transport Systems bring increasingly demanding weight and performance needs that encourage aircraft to operate relatively close to their design limits--minor structural failure can mean rapid catastrophe. On-board sensing, diagnostic, and damage mitigation capabilities are needed for early correction of incipient damage. However, no practical system exists. We address this deficiency by building on our existing SHM unit and incorporating damage mitigation. Technical objectives CDM leverages our work in impedance-based SHM. Our current prototype consists of a single custom electronics board, and is a TRL 5 unit. We have demonstrated field operation in Boeing launch simulation tests and on full-scale wind turbine blades. We propose to integrate our current approach with damage mitigation measures and to create a practical single-chip solution. We include computer modeling that generates virtual data in our sensor validation. Research description Phase 1 establishes feasibility for a single-chip approach based on the impedance method, and demonstrates damage mitigation on a model self-healing fastener. Phase 2 completes and validates single chip development, integrates damage detection and mitigation, and delivers an operational unit. Anticipated results Phase 1 demonstrates damage detection/mitigation integration and provides a detailed chip roadmap. Phase 2 delivers an operational unit that performs integrated damage detection, monitoring, and mitigation in crucial propulsion system and airframe components.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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