PFI-TT: Carbon Nanotube-Based Distributed Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring of Transportation and Oil/Gas Infrastructure

该PFI项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发和商业化一种可扩展和可定制的传感方法，用于桥梁和管道等关键结构的结构健康监测（SHM），以保持其安全性和可靠性。分布式碳纳米管传感器可以附着在结构构件上，以监测变形和裂缝。由于传感器是连续的，因此可以在应用传感器的所有表面上测量变形和裂纹，并且如果传感器响应超过某个临界水平，则最终触发警报。在该项目中获得的知识将提高关键基础设施的可持续性和稳健性，以造福社会和环境。长期影响将导致具有成本效益的监测协议，延长结构的寿命，并降低整体生命周期成本。最终，美国的经济竞争力将在强大、有弹性和持久的民用基础设施的基础上得到加强。该项目在北美约6.3亿美元的SHM目标市场中具有良好的商业潜力，用于监测土木结构，包括桥梁和管道。学生参与研究和创业/创新将建立学生进入劳动力的管道，将发现转化为新的商业产品，这将提高美国的全球竞争力。拟议的项目将建立分布式碳纳米管复合传感器的可扩展性和适用性，用于原位和实时定量SHM。使用SHM来监测关键基础设施越来越重要，结构故障可能导致人员生命损失以及对当地经济的破坏。通过使用基于碳纳米管的分布式传感器，将有可能克服传统传感器的局限性，传统传感器是基于安装在结构上的点或准点传感器的网络，可能会错过局部形成的损伤。分布式传感器在不同的应用中提供了巨大的灵活性，允许传感器符合各种复杂的表面，新的分析技术将被开发出来，以快速解释来自传感器的数据-特别是对于具有复杂几何形状的结构？利用直流电测量和阻抗层析成像。主要研究目标包括开发新的数据分析技术，以快速定位损坏，验证传感器的复杂几何形状和环境暴露，并在现实世界条件下进行现场测试的原型开发。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this PFI project is to develop and commercialize a scalable and customizable sensing approach for structural health monitoring (SHM) of critical structures, such as bridges and pipelines, to maintain their safety and reliability. The distributed carbon nanotube-based sensor can be attached to structural members to monitor deformations and cracks. Because the sensor is continuous, the deformations and cracks can be measured on all the surfaces where the sensor is applied and ultimately trigger an alarm if the sensor response exceeds a certain critical level. Knowledge gained in this project will increase the sustainability and robustness of critical infrastructure to benefit society and the environment. Long-term impacts will result in cost-effective monitoring protocols, extended life of structures, and reduced overall lifecycle costs. Ultimately, the economic competitiveness of United States is strengthened based on robust, resilient, and durable civil infrastructure. This project has promising commercial potentials in the approximate $630-million target market of SHM in North America for monitoring civil structures, including bridges and pipelines. The participation of students in research and entrepreneurship/innovation will build the pipeline of students entering the workforce to translate discoveries to new commercial products which will increase US global competitiveness.The proposed project will establish the scalability and applicability for the use of distributed carbon nanotube-based composite sensors for in situ and real-time quantitative SHM. The use of SHM to monitor critical infrastructure is increasingly important, and structural failures can cause loss of human life as well as damage to the local economy. Through the use of carbon nanotube-based distributed sensors it will be possible to overcome the limitations of conventional sensors, which are based on a network of point or quasi-point sensors mounted on a structure that may miss the localized formation of damage. The distributed sensor offers tremendous flexibility in different applications by allowing the sensor to conform to a variety of complex surfaces, and new analysis techniques will be developed to rapidly interpret the data from the sensors - especially for structures with complex geometries ? utilizing direct current electrical measurements and impedance tomography. Key research objectives include the development of new data analysis techniques to rapidly localize damage, validation of the sensor for complex geometries and environmental exposure, and development of a prototype for field testing in real-world conditions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.