Nanomaterial based fatigue crack sensing

疲劳是机械结构中普遍存在的严重问题，如飞机、钢桥和油箱。服役构件疲劳裂纹的萌生和扩展是关系到人身安全的重大问题。在加拿大，由于机械载荷、较大的温度波动和化学腐蚀的协同作用，疲劳问题可能更加突出和加剧。使用无损检测（NDT）技术进行现场检查需要大量的人员参与，并且缺乏对结构健康状况的连续监测。除了间歇性无损检测部署外，开发一种灵敏的疲劳裂纹传感器，可以同时在多个站点的早期阶段连续检测疲劳裂纹，这将是非常有益的。该项目将重点开发基于纳米材料的疲劳传感器，以便对疲劳裂纹进行早期检测和长期监测。探索多种低维纳米材料及其包合方法。纳米填料-基材料界面的作用将被破译。这些研究成果将应用于设计高灵敏度、高可靠性的疲劳传感器。该项目的成功完成将使我们的行业合作伙伴Laboratoire d’essai Mequaltech Inc.能够将研究项目中的发现和设计转化为具有高灵敏度和可靠性的完全可操作的基于纳米材料的疲劳传感器。这将使Laboratoire d’essai Mequaltech Inc.能够在国际结构健康监测市场上更成功地竞争。额外的好处包括培训工程学生使用技术疲劳设备和软件包。

Fatigue is a ubiquitous and serious concern in mechanical structures, such as aircrafts, steel bridges, and gas tanks. The initiation and growth of fatigue cracks of components in service pose a great issue on human safety. In Canada, the fatigue issues can be more prominent and exacerbated due to the synergistic effect of mechanical loading, large temperature fluctuation, and chemical corrosion. On-site inspection using non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques involves extensive human involvement and lacks continuous monitoring of the structural health. In addition to the intermittent NDT deployment, it will be of great benefit to develop a sensitive fatigue crack sensor that allows continuous detection of fatigue cracks at its early stage for multiple sites simultaneously.The project will focus on the development of nanomaterial-based fatigue sensors that allow early detection and long-term monitoring of fatigue cracks. Multiple low-dimensional nanomaterials and their inclusion methods will be explored. The role of the nanofiller-base material interfaces will be deciphered. The understanding developed through these studies will be applied within the project to design fatigue sensors with high sensitivity and reliability. A successful conclusion to this project will enable our industry partner Laboratoire d'essai Mequaltech Inc. to translate the findings and designs created within the research project into fully operational nanomaterial-based fatigue sensors with high sensitivity and reliability. This will allow Laboratoire d'essai Mequaltech Inc. to compete more successfully in the international market for structural health monitoring. Additional benefits include the training of engineering students on the use of technical fatigue equipment and software packages.