Fiber optics will help detect places where concrete chips or large hail hit
The development of scientists from the Perm National Research Polytechnic University will help increase the sensitivity of an airliner or spacecraft to minor external damage. They created an electromechanical model for the rapid detection of collisions with the outer surface of the vessel of concrete chips, large hail or micrometeorites.
According to «MK» at the university, at present, aircraft pilots or astronauts can only determine the most significant damage from external impacts of their aircraft with something large. For example, with a bird that got into the engine or with a large meteor that pierced the skin of a ship or station.
However, during the flight, small mechanical impacts are possible, for example, with concrete chips during the launch or landing of an airliner, or with micrometeors during space flight, which go unnoticed and subsequently can lead to unwanted growth of defects. Meanwhile, timely detection of damage or indentations on the skin of the fuselage or wings will help to carry out repairs in a timely manner and extend the life of aerospace equipment.
Scientists have proposed the use of special sensors that diagnose damage by a light signal that occurs after a mechanical load. Such a system will help determine the nature, size of the hard «particles of impact» and the location of the damage while the aircraft is still in flight.
The sensor is an optical fiber (a thread of optically transparent material for light transmission) with a luminescent coating that glows when mechanically acted upon. It is embedded in the polymer layer of composite structures, such as the fuselage or wings of aircraft, at the production stage. Upon impact with concrete chips, hail or micrometeorites, a special receiver-analyzer will process the intensity of the light signal using a special algorithm and transmit information about the location of the damage to the on-board computer.
Thanks to the created model, in the future it will be possible to increase » ;sensitivity» aerospace technology to external influences several times.