All-Fiber-Optic Ultrasonic Health Management System, Phase I

Health management of composite airframe components is essential for safety and reliability of future aircrafts. It reduces the risk of catastrophic failures and reduces operating costs. Luna Innovations proposes to develop a revolutionary airframe health management system on the basis of an all-fiber optic ultrasonic structural health monitoring system (SHM) and accurate prognostics algorithms. The key component of SHM system is a highly multiplexible transducer generating ultrasonic waves in the predefined locations of the optical fiber. Using such a technique, 10s of transducers and 1000s of sensors can be placed on the optical fiber embedded or surface-mounted to the airframe component thereby providing unmatched multiplexing capability. Origination and propagation of defects will be retrieved with high spatial resolution thus providing a basis for an accurate estimation of a component's Remaining Useful Life. During the Phase I, efforts will focus on demonstrating feasibility of an efficient ultrasound generation with the proposed fiber optic transducer and selecting appropriate prognostics algorithms. In Phase II, sensors, transducers will continue to be refined and will undergo extensive testing and validation. By the end of Phase II, the proposed health management system will reach TRL 5. In Phase III, Luna will commercialize the developed system.

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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