The focus of this dissertation is aimed at advancing autonomous structural health monitoring. All the research is based on developing the impedance method for monitoring structural health. The impedance technique utilizes piezoelectric patches to interrogate structures of interested with high frequency excitations. These patches are bonded directly to the structure, so information about the health of the structure can be seen in the electrical impedance of the piezoelectric patch. However, traditional impedance techniques require the use of a bulky and expensive impedance analyzer. Research presented here describes efforts to miniaturize the hardware necessary for damage detection. A prototype impedance-based structural health monitoring system, incorporating wireless based communications, is fabricated and validated with experimental testing. The first steps towards a completely autonomous structural health monitoring sensor are also presented. Power harvesting from ambient energy allows a prototype to be operable from a rechargeable power source. Aerospace vehicles are equipped with thermal protection systems to isolate internal components from harsh reentry conditions. While the thermal protection systems are critical to the safety of the vehicle, finding damage in these structures presents a unique challenge. Impedance techniques will be used to detect the standard damage mechanism for one type of thermal protection system. The sensitivity of the impedance method at elevated temperatures is also investigated. Sensors are often affixed to structures as a means of identifying structural defects. However, these sensors are susceptible to damage themselves. Sensor diagnostics is a field of study directed at identifying faulty sensors. The influence of temperature on these techniques is largely unstudied. In this dissertation, a model is generated to identify damaged sensors at any temperature. A sensor diagnostics method is also adapted for use in developed hardware. The prototype used is completely digital, so standard sensor diagnostics techniques are inapplicable. A new method is developed to work with the digital hardware. / Ph. D.

A promising structural health monitoring (SHM) method for implementation on real world structures is impedance-based health monitoring. An in-service system is envisioned to include on board processing and perhaps wireless transfer of data. Ideally, a system could be produced as a slap-on or automatically installed addition to a structure. The research presented in this dissertation addresses issues that will help make such a system a reality. Although impedance-based SHM does not typically use an analytical model for basic damage identification, a model is necessary for more advanced features of SHM, such as damage prognosis, and to evaluate system parameters when installing on various structures. A model was developed based on circuit analysis of the previously proposed low-cost circuit for impedance-based SHM in combination with spectral elements. When a three-layer spectral element representing a piezoceramic bonded to a base beam is used, the model can predict the large peaks in the impedance response due to resonances of the bonded active sensor. Parallel and series connections of distributed sensor systems are investigated both experimentally and with the developed model. Additionally, the distribution of baseline damage metrics is determined to assess how the large quantities of data produced by a monitoring system can be handled statistically. A modification of the RMSD damage metric has also been proposed that is essentially the squared sum of the Z-statistic for each frequency point. Preferred excitation frequencies for macro-fiber composite (MFC) active sensors are statistically determined for a long composite boom under development for use in rigidizable inflatable space structures. / Ph. D.

The research presented in this thesis is all based on the impedance method for structural health monitoring. The impedance method is an electro-mechanical technique which utilizes a single piezoelectric transducer as both a sensor and actuator. Due to the high frequencies of excitation used for the method, the sensing area for damage detection can be very localized. Previous work has shown that wave propagation can be added to systems already equipped with hardware for impedance-based structural health monitoring. The work in this thesis shows what happens under varying temperature conditions for a structure being monitored with wave propagation. A technique to compensate for temperature fluctuations is also presented. The work presented here is an initial study to directly correlate the actual amount of damage in a composite specimen with a damage metric indicated by impedance-based structural health monitoring. Two different damage mechanisms are examined: transverse matrix cracking and edge delamination. With both composite defects, a sample is interrogated with the impedance method before and after damage is introduced. The exact amount of damage in each specimen is found using radiography and compared with the health monitoring results. Traditional impedance techniques require the use of a bulky and expensive impedance analyzer. With the trend of structural health monitoring moving towards unobtrusive sensors which can be permanently placed on a structure, an impedance analyzer does not lend itself to these small, low power consuming requirements. In this thesis, an initial attempt to miniaturize the hardware is described. A prototype impedance-based structural health monitoring system, incorporating wireless based communications, is fabricated and validated with experimental testing on a number of different structures. The first steps towards a complete self-contained, robust structural health monitoring sensor are presented. / Master of Science

A self-sensing and self-healing bolted joint has been developed. This concept encompasses the areas of health monitoring, joint dynamics and smart materials. In order to detect looseness in a joint the impedance health monitoring method is used. A new method of making impedance measurements for health monitoring that greatly reduces the equipment cost and equipment size was developed. This facilitates implementation of the impedance technique in real-life field applications. Several proof of concept experiments are presented and compared to the traditional method of making impedance measurements. Investigations of bolted joint dynamics were conducted. A literature review of bolted joints and their diagnostics is presented. The application of the transfer impedance method is compared to standard modal tests on various bolt tensions. An investigation of damping in bolted joints was also made comparing a bolted and monolithic beam. Practical issues in adaptive bolted joints are investigated. This includes issues on activating/heating SMA actuators, connecting the actuators to the power source, size selection of SMA actuators and insulations. These issues are examined both experimentally and theoretically. / Master of Science

No description available.

High-temperature piezoelectric wafer active sensors (HT-PWAS) have been developed for structure health monitoring at hazard environments for decades. Different candidates have previously been tested under 270 °C and a new piezoelectric material langasite (LGS) was chosen here for a pilot study up to 700 °C. A preliminary study was performed to develop a high temperature sensor that utilizes langasite material. The Electromechanical impedance (E/M) method was chosen to detect the piezoelectric property. Experiments that verify the basic piezoelectric property of LGS at high temperature environments were carried out. Further validations were conducted by testing structures with attached LGS sensors at elevated temperature. Additionally, a detection system simulating the working process of LGS monitoring system was developed with PZT material at room temperature. This thesis, for the first time, (to the best of author’s knowledge) presents that langasite is ideal for making piezoelectric wafer active sensors for high temperature structure health monitoring applications.

This thesis presents a study of wireless sensor networks applied in monitoring the curing process of concrete building structure. To replace the massive user intervention of the traditional monitoring methods with automated data acquisition, various types of sensors are developed for different concrete tests, including compressive strength measurement, maturity test, and relative humidity test. The main purpose of the thesis is to provide an analysis of existing commercial sensors as well as research prototypes, comparing different test methods and communication models. Distribution of sensors, future potential in millimeter-wave, and simulation environments are also discussed.

Bakalauro baigiamąjį darbą „ Vandenilio kuro elementų tyrimas srovės trūkio metodu“ sudaro 5 skyriai: įvadas, teorinė dalis, tyrimų dalis, išvados, literatūra ir priedai. Darbo apimtį sudaro 73 puslapiai, 69 paveikslėliai, 3 lentelės ir 4 priedai. Darbe aprašomos įvairių tipų kuro elementai, jų veikimas. Nagrinėjama PEM kuro elemento veikimo principai. Pateikti PEM kuro elemento savybių eksperimentinio tyrimo rezultatai. / The final work for bachelors degree „Investigation of Fuel Cells by Current Interrupt Technique“ consists of 5 parts: introduction, theoretical part, research part, conclusions, literature and accessories. The work consists of 73 pages, 69 pictures, 3 tables and 4 accessories. This work describes various types of fuel cells, how it works. Operation principles of PEM fuel cell element are analysed. The results of experimental examination of PEM fuell cell element are give.

<p>Developing a reliable in-situ non-destructive testing method to determine the strength of in-place concrete is critical because a fast-paced construction schedule exposes concrete pavement and/or structures undergoing substantial loading conditions, even at their early ages. Conventional destructive testing methods, such as compressive and flexural tests, are very time-consuming, which may cause construction delays or cost overruns. Moreover, the curing conditions of the tested cylindrical samples and the in-place concrete pavement/structures are quite different, which may result in different strength values. An NDT method that could directly correlate the mechanical properties of cementitious materials with the sensing results, regardless of the curing conditions, mix design, and size effect is needed for the in-situ application.</p><p>The piezoelectric sensor-based electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique has shown promise in addressing this challenge as it has been used to both monitor properties and detect damages on the concrete structure. Due to the direct and inverse effects of piezoelectric, this material can act as a sensor, actuator, and transducer. This research serves as a comprehensive study to investigate the feasibility and efficiency of using piezoelectric sensor-based EMI to evaluate the strength of newly poured concrete. To understand the fundamentals of this method and enhance the durability of the sensor for in-situ monitoring, this work started with sensor fabrication. It has studied two types of polymer coating on the effect of the durability of the sensor to make it practical to be used in the field.</p><p>The mortar and concrete samples with various mix designs were prepared to ascertain whether the results of the proposed sensing technique were affected by the different mixtures. The EMI measurement and compressive strength testing methods (ASTM C39, ASTM C109) were conducted in the laboratory. The experimental results of mortar samples with different water-to-cement ratios (W/C) and two types of cement (I and III) showed that the correlation coefficient (R²) is higher than 0.93 for all mixes. In the concrete experiments, the correlation coefficient between the EMI sensing index and compressive strength of all mixes is higher than 0.90. The empirical estimation function was established through a concrete slab experiment. Moreover, several trial implementations on highway construction projects (I-70, I-74, and I-465) were conducted to monitor the real-time strength development of concrete. The data processing method and the reliable index of EMI sensing were developed to establish the regression model to correlate the sensing results with the compressive strength of concrete. It has been found that the EMI sensing method and its related statistical index can effectively reflect the compressive strength gain of in-place concrete at different ages.</p><p>To further investigate the in-situ compressive strength of concrete for large-scale structures, we conducted a series of large concrete slabs with the dimension of 8 feet × 12 feet × 8 inches in depth was conducted at outdoor experiments field to simulate real-world conditions. Different types of compressive strength samples, including cast-in-place (CIP) cylinder (4” × 6”) – (ASTM C873), field molded cylinder (4” × 8”) – (ASTM C39), and core drilled sample (4” × 8”) – (ASTM C42) were prepared to compare the compressive strength of concrete. The environmental conditions, such as ambient temperatures and relative humidity, were also recorded. The in-situ EMI monitoring of concrete strength was also conducted. The testing ages in this study were started from 6 hours after the concrete cast was put in place to investigate the early age results and continued up to 365 days (one year) later for long-term monitoring. The results indicate that the strength of the CIP sample is higher than the 4” x 8” molded cylinder , and that core drilled concrete is weaker than the two aforementioned. The EMI results obtained from the slab are close to those obtained from CIP due to similar curing conditions. The EMI results collected from 4 × 8-inch cylinder samples are lower than slab and CIP, which aligns with the mechanical testing results and indicates that EMI could capture the strength gain of concrete over time.</p><p>The consequent database collected from the large slab tests was used to build a prediction model for concrete strength. The Artificial Neuron Network (ANN) was investigated and experimented with to optimize the prediction of performances. Then, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to discuss and understand the critical parameters to predict the mechanical properties of concrete using the ML model. A framework using Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) based on algorithms was then proposed to overcome real data usage restrictions. Two types of GAN algorithms were selected for the data synthesis in the research: Tabular Generative Adversarial Networks (TGAN) and Conditional Tabular Generative Adversarial Networks (CTGAN). The testing results suggested that the CTGAN-NN model shows improved testing performances and higher computational efficiency than the TGAN model. In conclusion, the AI-guided concrete strength sensing and prediction approaches developed in this dissertation will be a steppingstone towards accomplishing the reliable and intelligent assessment of in-situ concrete structures.</p><br>

No / The objective of this review is to provide an overview concerning what the authors believe to be the most important photoelectrochemical techniques for the study of semiconductor nanoparticles. After a short historical background and a brief introduction to the area of photoelectrochemistry, the working principles and experimental setups of the various static and dynamic techniques are presented. Experimental details which are of crucial importance for their correct execution are emphasized, and applications of the techniques as found in the recent research literature as applied to semiconductor nanoparticles are illustrated.