Structural Health Monitoring of Composite Aircraft Structures Using Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors

Nitesh Gupta, M J Augustin, Sakthi Sathya, Saransh Jain, S R Viswamurthy, Kotresh M Gaddikeri, Ramesh Sundaram

Abstract


Aircraft industry is continually striving towards reducing the acquisition, operation and maintenance costs. Usage of advanced composite materials in primary aircraft structures have resulted in significant weight savings owing to their higher specific strength and specific stiffness. Composite structures, in spite of their inherent advantages, are prone to various damages. To detect and repair various structural damages that can occur during the service life of the aircraft, a thorough inspection schedule is implemented through conventional visual and Non Destructive Evaluation methods. Such scheduled inspections lead to considerable increase in maintenance cost & down-time of the aircraft. An online structural health monitoring (SHM) system consisting of well-designed sensor networks incorporated in the structure along with necessary hardware and software can provide information about the structure, thereby leading to reporting of flaws or damages in real time. Such a system can provide inputs for condition based maintenance which can result in reduced maintenance cost. This paper presents the work carried out at CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories towards developing a flight-worthy SHM system and its demonstration on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Sensor selection, characterization, instrumentation design, algorithm development towards damage detection & load estimation at lab level and implementation of the technology on a UAV are discussed in this paper.

Keywords


Structural Health Monitoring (SHM); Damage; Debond; Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG); Artificial Neural Network (ANN)

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References


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Nitesh Gupta, Augustin M.J, Sakthi Sathya, Ramesh Sundaram, M. Hari Prasad, A.C.R. Pillai, S. Gali, J. Balter, P. Gud’s, I. Kressel, A. Hendleman, Y. Botsev, N. Gorbatov, M. Tur, 2011 “Flight Data from an Airworthy Structural Health Monitoring System for an Unmanned Air Vehicle Using Integrally Embedded Fiber Optic Sensors”, 8th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring. USA: DEStech Publications, Inc. Volume 1.


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