University of Adelaide researchers are developing low-cost technology which can ‘talk’ to structures like bridges and aeroplanes to monitor their structural health and assess them for damage.
The technology should help improve public safety, and significantly reduce the cost of maintenance and repair.
“It will allow us to talk to the structure to see whether there are any defects, where they are and, ultimately, provide detail about the shape of any damage and how extensive it is – just like someone going to the doctor for a health check,” says researcher Dr Alex Ng, lecturer in the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering.
The system being developed is for structures made from high-tech materials called fibre-composite laminates, now widely used in the aerospace, construction, energy, transport and sporting goods industries, but is also applicable to other structural materials such as steel.
“These composite materials are incredibly attractive for structural purposes because they are lightweight but extremely strong, with potentially significant energy efficiencies and better fuel consumption,” says Dr Ng. “For example, the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner is 80% composite materials by volume.
“However, being a laminated material, it is difficult to accurately determine whether the internal layers are damaged without undertaking destructive testing. Developing cost-effective, non-destructive techniques will be of great value to these industries and for public safety.”
One area for potential use is in monitoring the structural integrity of steel bridges. “The collapse in 2007 of the Minneapolis bridge in the US raised questions about inspection as well as design. Visual inspection is not enough to be absolutely certain you have no cracks. Eventually Australia will face the same problem,” says Dr Ng. He is a member of the executive committee of Australian Network of Structural Health Monitoring which is working to avoid that situation.
With this new project, the University of Adelaide researchers are using a system of electrical devices (transducers) which send out and receive signals in the form of waves which pass through the structure like ripples on water. Defects or damage are revealed in the data received back.
The transducers can either be embedded into the structure when it’s built or bonded to the surface afterwards. The data is collected and transferred to a control centre where it can be monitored online, around the clock, to ensure structural integrity at all times.
The Latest on: Transducers
- Rotary Torque Transducers Market Evolving Technology and Growth Outlook 2019 to 2025on November 29, 2019 at 8:57 pm
Nov 30, 2019 (Market Insight Reports via COMTEX) -- The Global Rotary Torque Transducers Market is comprehensively analyzed in the report with the main objective of providing accurate market data and ...
- Researchers explore molecular responses to exercise in hopes of furthering precision exercise medicineon November 27, 2019 at 4:42 pm
Blood sugar is a biomarker,” said Ravussin. “We are looking at biomarkers of response.” Across the country, 23 institutions are involved in the research called, the Molecular Transducers of Physical ...
- Know What You Can Learn from This Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices Market Report About Top Vendorson November 27, 2019 at 10:28 am
Product Insights On the basis of product, the blood pressure monitoring devices market is segmented into sphygmomanometer, automated BP monitors, ambulatory BP monitors, BP transducers, and BP ...
- Liquid Level transducers Market 2019 – Industry Analysis, Size, production, prospects, consumption and cost structure Analysis – 2025on November 13, 2019 at 3:20 am
Nov 13, 2019 (Market Insight Reports via COMTEX) -- The global Liquid Level transducers market is carefully researched in the report while largely concentrating on top players and their business ...
- Propspeed Introduces Foulfree Coating for Transducerson November 1, 2019 at 7:32 am
Propspeed, leading innovator of underwater coatings, announced today the introduction of a revolutionary foul-release coating designed specifically for transducers – Foulfree. Designed by ...
- Transducers Market Key Challenges and Growth Factors 2019 - 2025|Boeing, Airbus, Cobhamon October 24, 2019 at 3:49 am
"Los Angeles, United State, July 9, 2019, - The report on the global Transducers market is comprehensively prepared with main focus on the competitive landscape, geographical growth, segmentation, and ...
- Exponential Elderly Population Set to Support Growth of the Global Blood Pressure Transducers Marketon October 2, 2019 at 5:35 pm
(MENAFN - GetNews) Blood Pressure Transducers Market Research Report: By Type (Reusable and Disposable Transducers), Technology (Digital, Aneroid and Wearable), Procedure (Intravascular and ...
- Speech Recognition — Weighted Finite-State Transducers (WFST)on September 30, 2019 at 3:13 pm
In this article, we apply a hierarchical pipeline concept that composes Weighted Finite-State Transducers (WFST) together. It composes multiple transducers to a single transducer and uses that to ...
- Forsentek Announces to Supply Multi Axis Load Cells and Torque Transducers For Industrial Applicationson September 23, 2019 at 12:01 pm
For the measurement of load of industrial applications and devices, Forsentek Co., Limited now has 3-axis load cells, miniature load cells and other types of load cells and transducers. Load ...
- VPG Transducers Launches New Silo Weighing Systemon September 12, 2019 at 7:04 am
MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The VPG Transducers brand of Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE:VPG), global designers and manufacturers of standard and custom force, pressure, torque, load, tension ...
via Google News and Bing News