REDONDO OPTICS, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N162-100

Description

Redondo Optics Inc. Proposes to develop and demonstrate to the Navy a miniature, light weight, and low power, fully integrated multi-channel hybrid PZT/FBG acousto-ultrasound (FAULSense) SHM system for the in-situ un-attended detection, identification, and localization of structural damage in advance Navy structures. The distributed FAULSense system uses a network of PZT actuators for the controlled excitation of acoustic waveform signals and a distributed array of FBG acoustic-ultrasound sensors for the global detection and measurement of the excitation structure response. In Phase I, ROI will design, assemble, and produce a working prototype of the hybrid FAULSense early warning damage detection SHM system and test it on a simulated aircraft structure to demonstrate its ability to detect and localized hidden structural damage. In Phase II, ROI with the support of Sikorsky team, it will produce a stand-alone FAULSense system and tested in a relevant aircraft platform environment under a variety of passive and dynamic aerodynamic test conditions. All of the Navy current and future aircraft will benefit significantly from this project, wherein the key technological challenge is to develop methodologies for high fidelity detection and characterization of flaws and degradation in complex aerodynamic structures.