Currently, there exist several different types of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems that are in the stage of development and/or are being tested for use in real-world applications. For a number of years, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems have demonstrated feasibility in laboratory and controlled testing environments. Acellent has been developing and testing strategies to bring the SHM field to the next level. These include issues involved with system installation, calibration, reliability and connections for structures fabricated with composite materials. Composite structures are susceptible to hidden or barely visible damage caused by impacts and/or excessive loads that if unchecked may lead to lower structural reliability, higher life-cycle costs, and loss in operational capability. Current maintenance and inspection techniques for in-service composite structures can be labor-intensive and time-consuming. Utilization of an integrated sensor network system such as that developed by Acellent can greatly reduce the inspection burden through fast in-situ data collection and processing. Using a built-in network of actuators and sensors, Acellent Technologies is providing the tools required for a practical SHM system. In this paper, key development and testing issues concerning real-world implementation of the SHM system on composite structures are presented.
