A neural system for structural health monitoring

This is an overview paper that discusses the concept of an embeddable structural health monitoring system for use in composite and heterogeneous material systems. The sensor system is formed by integrating groups of autonomous unit cells into a structure, much like neurons in biological systems. Each unit cell consists of an embedded processor and a group of distributed sensors that gives the structure the ability to sense damage. In addition, each unit cell periodically updates a central processor on the status of health in its neighborhood. This micro-architectured synthetic nervous system has an advanced sensing capability based on new continuous sensor technology. This technology uses a plurality of serially connected piezoceramic nodes to form a distributed sensor capable of measuring waves generated in structures by damage events, including impact and crack propagation. Simulations show that the neural system can detect faint acoustic waves in large plates. An experiment demonstrates the use of a simple neural system that was able to measure simulated acoustic emissions that were not clearly recognizable by a single conventional piezoceramic sensor.