This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 8343, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, and the Conference Committee listing.

The development of efficient and accurate analysis techniques for morphing aerostructures incorporating shape memory alloys (SMAs) continues to garner attention. These active materials have a high actuation energy density, making them an ideal replacement for conventional actuation mechanisms in morphing structures. However, SMA components are often exposed to the same highly variable environments experienced by the aeroelastic assemblies into which they are incorporated. This is motivating design engineers to consider modeling fluidstructure interaction for prescribing dynamic, solution-dependent boundary conditions. This work presents a computational study of a particular morphing aerostructure with embedded, thermally actuating SMA ribbons and demonstrates the effective use of fluid-structure interaction modeling. A cosimulation analysis is utilized to determine the surface deflections and stress distributions of an example aerostructure with embedded SMA ribbons using the Abaqus Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software suite, combined with an Abaqus Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) processor. The global FEA solver utilizes a robust user-defined material subroutine which contains an accurate three-dimensional SMA constitutive model. Variations in the ambient fluid environment are computed using the CFD solver, and fluid pressure is mapped into surface distributed loads. Results from the analysis are qualitatively validated with independently obtained data from representative flow tests previously conducted on a physical prototype of the same aerostructure.

Over 60% of energy that is generated is lost as waste heat with close to 90% of this waste heat being classified as low grade being at temperatures less than 200°C. Many technologies such as thermoelectrics have been proposed as means for harvesting this lost thermal energy. Among them, that of SMA (shape memory alloy) heat engines appears to be a strong candidate for converting this low grade thermal output to useful mechanical work. Unfortunately, though proposed initially in the late 60's and the subject of significant development work in the 70's, significant technical roadblocks have existed preventing this technology from moving from a scientific curiosity to a practical reality. This paper/presentation provides an overview of the work performed on SMA heat engines under the US DOE (Department of Energy) ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy) initiative. It begins with a review of the previous art, covers the identified technical roadblocks to past advancement, presents the solution path taken to remove these roadblocks, and describes significant breakthroughs during the project. The presentation concludes with details of the functioning prototypes developed, which, being able to operate in air as well as fluids, dramatically expand the operational envelop and make significant strides towards the ultimate goal of commercial viability.

In most energy harvesting applications the need for a reliable long-term energy supply is essential in powering embedded sensing and control electronics. The goal of many harvesters is to extract energy from the ambient environment to power hardware; however in some applications there may be conditions in which the harvester's performance cannot meet all of the demands of the embedded electronics. One method for addressing this shortfall is to supplement harvested power through the transmission of wireless energy, a concept that has successfully been demonstrated by the authors in previous studies. In this paper we present our findings on the use of a single electromagnetic coil to harvest kinetic energy in a solenoid configuration, as well as background and directed wireless energy in the 2.4 GHz radio frequency (RF) bands commonly used in WiFi and cellular phone applications. The motivation for this study is to develop a compact energy harvester / receiver that conserves physical volume, while providing multi-modal energy harvesting capabilities. As with most hybrid systems there are performance trade-offs that must be considered when capturing energy from different physical sources. As part of this paper, many of the issues related to power transmission, physical design, and potential applications are addressed for this device.

This work presents experimental evidence of giant electro-mechanical energy conversion under ferroelectric/ferroelectric rhombohedral-orthorhombic phase transformation. Combinations of stress and electric field drive a phase transformation from rhombohedral to orthorhombic in [011] cut ferroelectric single crystals. This phase transformation is accompanied by a large jump in electric displacement and strain. The results indicate that the ferroelectric crystals produce at least an order of magnitude more electrical energy density per cycle that that produced using the linear piezoelectric effect. In the experimental work, energy is harvested from a cyclic drive stress of ~5 MPa applied to a ternary Pb(In_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃- Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ (PIN-PMN-PT) single crystal of composition just at the rhombohedral side of a morphotropic phase boundary. Ideal energy harvesting cycles, experimental electrical and mechanical results, and methods of mechanical confinement and drive are presented.

In recent years there has been a strong emphasis on kinetic (vibration) energy harvesting using smart structure technology. This emphasis has been driven in large part by industry demand for powering sensors and wireless telemetry of sensor data in places into which running power and data cables is difficult or impossible. Common examples are helicopter drive shafts and other rotating equipment. In many instances, available space in these locations is highly limited, resulting in a trend for miniaturization of kinetic energy harvesters. While in some cases size limitations are dominant, in other cases large and even very large harvesters are possible and even desirable since they may produce significantly more power. Examples of large-scale energy harvesting include geomatics, which is the discipline of gathering, storing, processing, and delivering spatially referenced information on vast scales. Geomatics relies on suites of various sensors and imaging devices such as meteorological sensors, seismographs, high-resolution cameras, and LiDAR's. These devices may be stationed for prolonged periods of time in remote and poorly accessible areas and are required to operate continuously over prolonged periods of time. In other cases, sensing and imaging equipment may be mounted on land, sea, or airborne platforms and expected to operate for many hours on its own power. Providing power to this equipment constitutes a technological challenge. Other cases may include commercial buildings, unmanned powered gliders and more. Large scale kinetic energy harvesting thus constitutes a paradigm shift in the approach to kinetic energy harvesting as a whole and as often happens it poses its own unique technological challenges. Primarily these challenges fall into two categories: the cost-effective manufacturing of large and very large scale transducing elements based on smart structure technology and the continuous optimization (tuning) of these transducers for various operating conditions. Current research proposes the simultaneous solution of both of the aforementioned challenges via the use of specialized technology for the incorporation of large numbers of piezoelectric transducers into standard printed circuit boards and the continuous control of structural resonance via the application of adaptive compressive stress. Used together, these technologies allow for fully scalable and tunable kinetic energy harvesting. Since the design is modular in nature and a typical size of a single module can easily reach dimensions of 60 by 40 centimeters, there is virtually no upper limit on the size of the harvester other than the limits that derive from its specific applications and placement. The use of compressive forces rather than the commonly used non-structural mass for the tuning of the harvester frequency to the disturbing frequency allows for continuous adaptive tuning while at the same time avoiding the undesirable vibration damping effects of non-structural mass. A proof of concept large-scale harvester capable of manual compressive force tuning was built as part of the current study and preliminary tests were conducted. The tests validate the proposed approach showing power generation on the order of 10 mW at disturbing frequencies between 10 and 100 Hz, with RMS voltages reaching over 20 volts and RMS currents over 2 mA, with proven potential for 50 mW with over 100 VAC and 10 mA for a transducing panel 20 by 10 cm. The results also validate the tuning via compressive force approach, showing strong dependence of energy harvesting efficiency on the compressive force applied to the transducing panel.

For the practical implementation of an energy harvesting system, the signal conditioning electronics play an important role in defining the overall efficiency of these power systems. There are currently a number of commercially available energy harvesting circuits designed to condition the output of piezoelectric-based electromechanical transducers. In this paper we present a comparison study of several of these commercially available circuits, using a collection of transducer designs to evaluate performance as a function of energy level and frequency content. This evaluation considers conditioning circuits that range from simple rectification designs to others that incorporate logic-based integrated circuits designed to optimize energy throughput. Custom circuit designs are also considered as part of this study, including switching circuits designed to allow for mult-source energy harvesting.

Structural health monitoring systems are increasingly used for comprehensive fatigue tests and surveillance of large scale structures. In this paper we describe the development and validation of a wireless system for SHM application based on Lamb-waves. The system is based on a wireless sensor network and focuses especially on low power measurement, signal processing and communication. The sensor nodes were realized by compact, sensor near signal processing structures containing components for analog preprocessing of acoustic signals, their digitization and network communication. The core component is a digital microprocessor ARM Cortex-M3 von STMicroelectronics, which performs the basic algorithms necessary for data acquisition synchronization and filtering. The system provides network discovery and multi-hop and self-healing mechanisms. If the distance between two communicating devices is too big for direct radio transmission, packets are routed over intermediate devices automatically. The system represents a low-power and low-cost active structural health monitoring solution. As a first application, the system was installed on a CFRP structure.

This paper presents the deployment of an embedded active sensing platform for real-time condition monitoring of telescopes in the RAPid Telescopes for Optical Response (RAPTOR) observatory network. The RAPTOR network consists of several ground-based autonomous astronomical observatories primarily designed to search for astrophysical transients such as gamma-ray bursts. In order to capture astrophysical transients of interest, the telescopes must remain in peak operating condition to move swiftly from one potential transient to the next throughout the night. However, certain components of these telescopes have until recently been maintained in an ad hoc manner, often being permitted to run to failure, resulting in the inability to drive the telescope. In a recent study, a damage classifier was developed using the statistical pattern recognition paradigm of structural health monitoring (SHM) to identify the onset of damage in critical telescope drive components. In this work, a prototype embedded active sensing platform is deployed to the telescope structure in order to record data for use in detecting the onset of telescope drive component damage and alert system administrators prior to system failure.

Various types of damages occur in aerospace, mechanical and many other engineering structures, and a reliable nondestructive evaluation technique is essential to detect any possible damage at the initiation phase. Ultrasound has been widely used but the conventional contact ultrasonic inspection techniques are not suitable for mass and couplant sensitive structures and are relatively slow. This study presents a fully non-contact hybrid laser ultrasonic generation and piezoelectric air-coupled transducer (ACT)/laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) sensing technique combined with ultrasonic wave propagation imaging (UWPI), ultrasonic spectral imaging (USI) and wavelet-transformed ultrasonic propagation imaging (WUPI) algorithms to extract defect-sensitive features aimed at performing a thorough diagnosis of damage. Optimization enables improved performance efficiency of ACT and LDV to be used as receivers for non-contact hybrid laser ultrasonic propagation imaging (UPI) system as shown from the experimental results in this study. Real fatigue closed surface micro crack on metal structure was detected using hybrid laser ultrasonic generation/ACT sensing system, with size detection accuracy as high as 96%. Impact damages on carbon fiber reinforced plastic composite wing-box specimen were detected and localized using hybrid laser ultrasonic generation/LDV sensing system.

In the search for new deposits petrochemical extraction Companies are searching in challenging environments as deep sea-beds. At the same time, especially following the Gulf of Mexico disaster, there is a justified concern about the assessment of the installed asset condition. The Aerospace Engineering Department of the Politecnico di Milano and Prysmian Group R&D Department are currently carrying over a joint research project aiming to the development of new methods for the testing and evaluation of health status and conditions to be applied in the field of deep sub-sea umbilical normally employed for the petrochemical hydrocarbon extraction. The monitoring methods and the measurement system under joint development will enable Prysmian to validate vs. full scale measurement the design analytical tools currently utilized to analyze the developed elements versus the operational scenarios for which any particular umbilical is currently designed. Additionally, together with the Politecnico di Milano, Prysmian will develop a real-time measurement system to be utilized, during operational lifetime, for the asset management of the produced sub-sea umbilicals.

A modal approach is investigated for real-time deformation shape prediction of lightweight unmanned flying aerospace structures, for the purposes of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and condition assessment. The deformation prediction algorithm depends on the modal properties of the structure and uses high-resolution fiber-optic sensors to obtain strain data from a representative aerospace structure (e.g., flying wing) in order to predict the associated real-time deflection shape. The method is based on the use of fiber-optic sensors such as optical Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) which are known for their accuracy and light weight. In this study, the modal method is examined through computational models involving Finite-Element Analysis (FEA). Furthermore, sensitivity analyses are performed to investigate the effects of several external factors such as sensor locations and noise pollution on the performance of the algorithm. This work analyzes the numerous complications and difficulties that might potentially arise from combining the state-of-the-art advancements in sensing technology, deformation shape prediction, and structural health monitoring, to achieve a robust way of monitoring ultra lightweight flying wings or next-generation commercial airplanes.

In this research, a new type of haptic master device using electrorheological (ER) fluid for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is proposed. The proposed haptic master consists of an ER spherical joint for 3-DOF rotational motion (X, Y, Z) and an ER brake for 1-DOF translational motion (Z). Principal design parameters of the haptic master are determined based on Bingham characteristic of ER fluid and geometrical constraints. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed haptic master, control performance is evaluated. In order to achieve desired force trajectories, a sliding mode controller (SMC) is designed and implemented. Both torque and force tracking control performances show that the proposed haptic master can be effectively applied to surgical robot system.

We have developed a high precision three axes scanning and positioning system for integration with Multifunctional Image Guided Surgical (MIGS) Platform. The stage integrates three main components: an optical coherence tomography (OCT) probe, laser scalpel and suction cup. The requirements for this stage were to provide scanning area of 400mm2, resolution of less than 10 microns and scanning velocity in the range of 10 - 40 mm/s. The stage was modeled using computer aided design software NX Unigraphics. In addition to the parameters mentioned above, additional boundary conditions for the stage were set as low volume and modularity. Optimized stage model was fabricated by using rapid prototyping technique that integrates low cost stepper motors, threaded rod drive train and a stepper motor controller. The EZ4axis stepper motor controller was able to provide 1/8th microstep resolution control over the motors, which met the criterion desired for the MIGS platform. Integration of computer controlled three-axis stage with MIGS platform provides the opportunity for conducting intricate surgical procedures using remote control or joystick. The device is image guided using the OCT probe and it is able to pin point any location requiring a laser scalpel incision. Due to the scanning capabilities, a high quality threedimensional image of the tissue topography is obtained which allows the surgeon to make a confident decision of where to apply the laser scalpel and make an incision.

The concept is simple, within the pump a pH responsive polymer actuator swells in volume under electrically controlled stimulus. As the actuator swells it presses against a drug reservoir, as the reservoir collapses the drug is metered out to the patient. From concept to finished product, engineering this smart system entailed integration across multiple fields of science and engineering. Materials science, nanotechnology, polymer chemistry, organic chemistry, electrochemistry, molecular engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering all played a part in solutions to multiple technical hurdles. Some of these hurdles where overcome by tried and true materials and component engineering, others where resolved by some very creative out of the box thinking and tinkering. This paper, hopefully, will serve to encourage others to venture into unfamiliar territory as we did, in order to overcome technical obstacles and successfully develop a low cost smart medical device that can truly change a patient's life.

Shape memory alloy (SMA) pipe couplers use the shape memory effect to apply a contact pressure onto the surface of the pipes to be coupled. In the current research, a SMA pipe coupler is designed, fabricated and tested. The thermally induced contact pressure depends on several factors such as the dimensions and properties of the coupler-pipe system. Two alloy systems are considered: commercially-available NiTiNb couplers and in-house developed NiTi couplers. The coupling pressure is measured using strain gages mounted on the internal surface of an elastic ring. An axisymmetric finite element model including SMA constitutive equations is also developed, and the finite element results are compared with the experimental results.

Smart material electro-hydraulic actuators utilize fluid rectification by one-way valves to convert the small, high-frequency, high-force motions of smart materials such as piezoelectrics and magnetostrictives into useful motions of a hydraulic cylinder. These actuators have potential to replace centralized hydraulic pumps and lines with lightweight, compact, power-by-wire systems. This paper presents the design and testing of an improved actuator system. To increase the frequency bandwidth of operation, a lumped-parameter model is developed and validated based on experimental study of a pump with a performance capacity of 18.4 W. The critical parameters for pump performance are identified and their effect on pump performance assessed. The geometry of the hydraulic manifold that integrates the smart material pump and the output hydraulic cylinder is found to be critical for determining the effective system bandwidth.

It has been shown that the coefficient of dynamic friction between two surfaces decreases when ultrasonic vibra- tions are superimposed on the macroscopic sliding velocity. Instead of longitudinal vibrations, this paper focuses on the lateral contractions and expansions of an object in and around the half wavelength node region. This lateral motion is due to the Poisson effect (ratio of lateral strain to longitudinal strain) present in all materials. We numerically and experimentally investigate the Poisson-effect ultrasonic lubrication. A motor effect region is identified in which the effective friction force becomes negative as the vibratory waves drive the motion of the interface. Outside of the motor region, friction lubrication is observed with between 30% and 60% friction force reduction. A "stick-slip" contact model associated with horn kinematics is presented for simulation and analysis purposes. The model accurately matches the experiments for normal loads under 120 N.

Today in the production of internal combustion engines it is possible to make pistons as well as cylinders, for all practical purposes, perfectly round. The negative consequences of the subsequent assembly processes and operation of the engine is that the cylinders and pistons are deformed, resulting in a loss of power and an increase in fuel consumption. This problem can be solved by using an adaptronic tool, which can machine the cylinder to a predetermined nonround geometry, which will deform to the required geometry during assembly and operation of the engine. The article describes the actuatory effect of the tool in conjunction with its measuring and controlling algorithms. The adaptronic tool consists out the basic tool body and three axially-staggered floating cutter groups, these cutter groups consist out of guides, actuators and honing stones. The selective expansion of the tool is realised by 3 piezoelectric multilayer-actuators deployed in a series - parallel arrangement. It is also possible to superimpose actuator expansion on the conventional expansion. A process matrix is created during the processing of the required and actual contour data in a technology module. This is then transferred over an interface to the machine controller where it is finally processed and the setting values for the piezoelectric actuators are derived, after which an amplifier generates the appropriate actuator voltages. A slip ring system on the driveshaft is used to transfer the electricity to the actuators in the machining head. The functioning of the adaptronic form-honing tool and process were demonstrated with numerous experiments. The tool provides the required degrees of freedom to generate a contour that correspond to the inverse compound contour of assembled and operational engines.

The proportion of worldwide installed wind power in power systems increases over the years as a result of the steadily growing interest in renewable energy sources. Still, the advantages offered by the use of wind power are overshadowed by the high operational and maintenance costs, resulting in the low competitiveness of wind power in the energy market. In order to reduce the costs of corrective maintenance, the application of condition monitoring to gearboxes becomes highly important, since gearboxes are among the wind turbine components with the most frequent failure observations. While condition monitoring of gearboxes in general is common practice, with various methods having been developed over the last few decades, wind turbine gearbox condition monitoring faces a major challenge: the detection of faults under the time-varying load conditions prevailing in wind turbine systems. Classical time and frequency domain methods fail to detect faults under variable load conditions, due to the temporary effect that these faults have on vibration signals. This paper uses the statistical discipline of outlier analysis for the damage detection of gearbox tooth faults. A simplified two-degree-of-freedom gearbox model considering nonlinear backlash, time-periodic mesh stiffness and static transmission error, simulates the vibration signals to be analysed. Local stiffness reduction is used for the simulation of tooth faults and statistical processes determine the existence of intermittencies. The lowest level of fault detection, the threshold value, is considered and the Mahalanobis squared-distance is calculated for the novelty detection problem.

A health monitoring approach is investigated for hydrokinetic turbine blade applications. In-service monitoring is critical due to the difficult environment for blade inspection and the cost of inspection downtime. Composite blade designs provide a medium for embedding sensors into the blades for in-situ health monitoring. The major challenge with in-situ health monitoring is transmission of sensor signals from the remote rotating reference frame of the blade to the system monitoring station. In the presented work, a novel system for relaying in-situ blade health measurements is described and demonstrated. An ultrasonic communication system is used to transmit health data underwater from the rotating frame of the blade to a fixed relay station. Data are then broadcast via radio waves to a remote monitoring station. Results indicate that the assembled system can transmit simulated sensor data with an accuracy of ±5% at a max sampling rate of 500 samples/sec. A power investigation of the transmitter within the blade shows that continuous max-sampling operation is only possible for short durations (~days), and is limited due to the capacity of the battery power source. For a 1000 mA-hr battery to last two years, the transmitter must be operated with a duty cycle of 368, which means data are acquired and transmitted every 59 seconds. Finally, because the data transmission system is flexible, being able to operate at high sample rate for short durations and lower sample rate/high duty cycle for long durations, it is well-suited for short-term prototype and environmental testing, as well as long-term commercially-deployed hydrokinetic machines.

This paper overviews the test setup and experimental methods for structural health monitoring (SHM) of two 9-meter CX-100 wind turbine blades that underwent fatigue loading at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). The first blade was a pristine blade, which was manufactured to standard specifications for the CX-100 design. The second blade was manufactured for the University of Massachusetts, Lowell with intentional simulated defects within the fabric layup. Each blade was instrumented with piezoelectric transducers, accelerometers, acoustic emission sensors, and foil strain gauges. The blades underwent harmonic excitation at their first natural frequency using the Universal Resonant Excitation (UREX) system at NREL. Blades were initially excited at 25% of their design load, and then with steadily increasing loads until each blade reached failure. Data from the sensors were collected between and during fatigue loading sessions. The data were measured over multi-scale frequency ranges using a variety of acquisition equipment, including off-the-shelf systems and specially designed hardware developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The hardware systems were evaluated for their aptness in data collection for effective application of SHM methods to the blades. The results of this assessment will inform the selection of acquisition hardware and sensor types to be deployed on a CX-100 flight test to be conducted in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Conservation and Production Research Laboratory (CPRL) in Bushland, Texas.

This paper presents the initial analysis results of several structural health monitoring (SHM) methods applied to two 9- meter CX-100 wind turbine blades subjected to fatigue loading at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). The first blade was a pristine blade, manufactured to standard CX-100 design specifications. The second blade was manufactured for the University of Massachusetts, Lowell (UMass), with intentional simulated defects within the fabric layup. Each blade was instrumented with a variety of sensors on its surface. The blades were subject to harmonic excitation at their first natural frequency with steadily increasing loading until ultimately reaching failure. Data from the sensors were collected between and during fatigue loading sessions. The data were measured at multi-scale frequency ranges using a variety of data acquisition equipment, including off-the-shelf systems and prototype data acquisition hardware. The data were analyzed to identify fatigue damage initiation and to assess damage progression. Modal response, diffuse wave-field transfer functions in time and frequency domains, and wave propagation methods were applied to assess the condition of the turbine blade. The analysis methods implemented were evaluated in conjunction with hardware-specific performance for their efficacy in enabling the assessment of damage progression in the blade. The results of this assessment will inform the selection of specific data to be collected and analysis methods to be implemented for a CX-100 flight test to be conducted in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Conservation and Production Research Laboratory (CPRL) in Bushland, Texas.

This paper introduces a novel 3-DOF haptic master device for minimally invasive surgery featuring magneto-rheological (MR) fluid. It consists of three rotational motions. These motions are constituted by two bi-directional MR (BMR) plus one conventional MR brakes. The BMR brake used in the system possesses a salient advantage that its range of braking torque varies from negative to positive values. Therefore, the device is expected to be able sense in a wide environment from very soft tissues to bones. In this paper, overall of the design of the device is presented from idea, modeling, optimal design, manufacturing to control of the device. Moreover, experimental investigation is undertaken to validate the effectiveness of the device.