Advances in load and acoustic emission measurement technology have immediate applications in civil engineering for monitoring and evaluating damages, corrosion, and fatigue in steel and concrete structures such as bridges, freeways, and buildings. High frequency ultrasonic signal detection method development can be utilized in ultrasonic testing, medical imaging, and other non-destructive testing technology. LGR's BGA technology development can be readily incorporated into current fiber optics and optical cross-connect technology for next-generation telecommunication applications Optical fiber technology provides significant advantages for advanced aerospace platforms because they are lightweight, immune to electromagnetic wave interference, rugged, and do not produce short circuits or ground loops. The development of an intelligent fiber optic sensors for damage diagnostic has the potential to enhance reliability, enable lower cost, and facilitate more effective structural health management and nondestructive evaluation of NASA's aircraft and spacecraft components and systems. The Bragg grating array sensor device LGR proposed to develop for Phase I will greatly enhance NASA efforts to develop state-of-the-art, compact, low-cost, waveform-based, quantitative strain and acoustic emission sensing technology for load and damage monitoring of advanced structures.
More »