Organizers: Helmut Wenzel¹

¹ VCE Vienna Consulting Engineers ZT GmbH Hadikgasse 60, 1140 Vienna, Austria.

Key words: risk management, ageing of structures, harmonisation of rating scales, guidelines and standards

Scope of Session

The group of experts formed in IWSHM 2013 has produced results in various aspects of Civil SHM Standardisation. The progress of this development work will be presented and its allocation in the international standardisation environment will be explained. Several programs on national and international level have been started. The session will be devoted to reports on these activities and will serve as a platform for discussion on the next steps, strategic approach towards international standards (ISO) and dissemination of available standards to the entire civil community.

Organizers: Daniele Zonta¹ and Branko Glisic²

¹ DICAM, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy.

² CEE, Princeton University, E330 EQuad, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.

Key words: Bayesian inference, probabilistic methods, sensor fusion, structural reliability, risk analysis, decision making

Scope of Session

Structural health monitoring aims to understand the condition of a structure based on sensor measurements, which are typically affected by noise and errors. Similarly, the relationship between observations and state is often nondeterministic. Key questions are how to provide a reliable and robust diagnosis, properly accounting for uncertainties, and how to bridge the gap between the data acquisition and decision making on such issues as structural maintenance, repair and replacement. The goal of the session is to bring together researchers working on statistical data interpretation, structural risk assessment, and decision making. Contributions are invited in the fields of structural reliability, probabilistic analysis, Bayesian logic, sensor fusion, risk analysis, including economic and social aspects that affect decisions in SHM applications. Contributions proposing methodological developments and in-field applications are both welcome.

Organizers: Yi-Qing Ni¹ and Chung-Yue Wang²

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

² Department of Civil Engineering, National Central University, Chungli, Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Key words: Railway infrastructure, high-speed trains, on-line monitoring, smart control, operational safety assessment, health management

Scope of Session

Rapid expansion of the high-speed railway in recent years in several countries has imposed great challenges on the safety, reliability and comfort of its operation. In responding to such challenges, this special session aims to encourage the presentation and sharing of recent innovations in the field of monitoring and health management of high-speed railways. The scope of this session covers a broad range of research topics, including but not limited to: (1) monitoring and evaluation of rail track and subgrade systems, (2) advanced sensor network and wireless communication for on-line monitoring of high-speed rail vehicles (including the detection of bogie defects), (3) applications of smart materials for condition monitoring and vibration control of high-speed trains, (4) fault diagnosis of high-speed rail traction power and information control systems (including the development of sensors and devices for electricity condition monitoring), and (5) system-level health evaluation, prognosis and management for the purpose of facilitating condition-based maintenance and ensuring long-term operational safety.

Organizers: Wieslaw Ostachowicz^1,2

¹ Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Fluid Flow Machinery 80-231 Gdansk, Poland.

² Warsaw University of Technology (SiMR) 02-524 Warsaw, Poland.

Key words: sensors, sensing, SHM, damage detection, signal processing

Scope of Session

The session covers the main disciplines which are based on guided waves propagations in both isotropic and anisotropic materials. Authors are encouraged to submit papers that include the elastic waves propagation phenomenon which span a wide range from linear and non–linear, 1D, 2D and 3D, time or frequency, experimental and numerical approaches in complementary investigations of structures. The proposed novel techniques should allow to perform efficient both local and global SHM technologies. Considered above investigations are intended to develop variety of techniques being related to diagnostics (damage size estimation and damage type recognition) and prognostics. Promising combination of investigated techniques should lead to an innovative approach to ensure safety operation.

Organizers: Wieslaw Ostachowicz^1,2

¹ Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Fluid Flow Machinery 80-231 Gdansk, Poland.

² Warsaw University of Technology (SiMR) 02-524 Warsaw, Poland.

Key words: wind turbines, sensors, sensing, SHM, damage detection, signal processing

Scope of Session

The session covers the main Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) topics which are focused on wind turbine structures. The research methodologies used here span a wide range of experimental and numerical approaches in complementary investigations of rotor with blades, drive train and support structure. The crucial issue is to assess fibre reinforced polymer materials because they are widely used for wind turbine blades. The research methodologies should span a wide range of topics from piezoelectric transducers, elastic waves propagation phenomenon, fibre Bragg gratings, structural vibrations analysis, electro–mechanical impedance method, acoustic emission, damage mechanics, 3D laser vibrometry applications and others. The combination of proposed techniques allows to perform efficient both local and global SHM of the structure. It also includes a variety of techniques being related to diagnostics (damage size estimation and damage type recognition) and prognostics. Promising combination of selected techniques should lead to an innovative approach to ensure safety operation of the structure.

Organizers: Branko Glisic¹ and Daniele Zonta²

¹ CEE, Princeton University, E330 EQuad, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.

² DICAM, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy.

Key words:Distributed fiber optic sensors; Sensing skins, sheets, and paints; Self-sensing materials; Dense arrays of active wave-propagation sensors; MEMS; Distributed/decentralized data analysis; Wireless nodes for dense arrays of sensors; Power harvesting for dense arrays of sensors

Scope of Session

The key advantage of implementing very dense arrays of sensors for damage identification purposes is in “omnipresence” of sensors in the structure and their high sensitivity to damage, so wherever the damage occurs in the structure it is reliably detected, localized and quantified through a significant output change in the affected sensors. Consequently, an important number of innovative technique emerged in the last decade or so: 1D distributed fiber optic sensors, 2D distributed sensing skins, paints, and sheets based on nano-technologies, large-area electronics, photonic crystals (nanospheres), conductive polymers, etc., and 2D and 3D active wave sensing techniques, embedded MEMS, and self-sensing materials. The aims of this special session are (1) to assess the state of the art of the techniques enabling dense arrays of sensors, (2) to identify challenges related to their applicability in real-life settings and (3) to cross-fertilize the research field through an exchange of ideas. In a broader sense, the topic of the session includes data management and power harvesting techniques that can address the challenges related to execution, processing and analysis of large number of measurements performed by very dense arrays of sensors.

Organizers: Dimitrios Zarouchas¹ and Marcias Martinez¹

¹ Structural Integrity & Composites Group (SIC), Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands

Key words: Acoustic Emission, Aerospace, Environmental & Operational Conditions, Fatigue Damage Monitoring, Damage Localization & Identification, Acoustic Emission Signal Processing

Scope of Session

This session aims to address the effectiveness of Acoustic Emission (AE) technique to locate and identify damage in structural applications of aerospace industry under various Environmental and Operational Conditions (EOC) and to project its potential for in-service monitoring. The session will consider studies in the area of: 1) Damage localization (including development of localization algorithms and topology of sensors) 2) Structural geometrical complexity 3) Load and temperature effects on AE signals 4) AE signal processing techniques for damage identification purposes 5) Fatigue damage monitoring and prognostics of residual life 6) Probability of detection.

Organizers: Kenneth J. Loh¹ and Donghyeon Ryu²

¹ Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

² Department of Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Socorro, NM 87801, USA.

Key words: composite, healing, load-bearing, nanotechnology, piezoelectric, piezoresistive, photoactive, sensing, thin film

Scope of Session

Multifunctional materials are materials that have been intentionally engineered to exhibit more than one precisely defined property or functionality. Typically, the encoding of desired properties (e.g., damping, piezoresistivity, piezoelectricity, photoelectricity, magnetostriction, healing, and load-bearing, among others) are achieved through a bottom-up design methodology during material manufacturing. While nanotechnology has enabled molecular assembly of a variety of new materials/structures that are then scaled up, the design and engineering of innovative multifunctional structures can occur at any length scale. As a result, this new class of material system can exist in the form of a nanocomposite, composite, coating, colloidal dispersion, and/or multi-phase material. This special session welcomes contributions that showcase the breadth of multifunctional material architectures, design and manufacturing methodologies, property characterization, numerical modelling, validation and testing, and technology demonstration.

Organizers: Salvatore Salamone¹

¹ University at Buffalo

Key words: ultrasonic, acoustic emission, signal processing, SHM, NDE, damage

Scope of Session

This special session aims to collect and share recent developments of ultrasonic and acoustic emission technologies for the damage assessment of civil and aerospace structures, and the issues and challenges related to their implementation in real world applications. Authors are encouraged to submit papers topics that include but are not limited to: 1) applications of ultrasonic and/or acoustic emission methods for SHM/NDE; 2) signal processing and analysis techniques, 3) damage prognosis techniques; 4) sensors development for SHM/NDE; 5) field implementation of ultrasonic and/or acoustic emission technology; 6) remote sensing technology.

Organizers: Kenneth J. Loh¹ and Bryan R. Loyola²

¹ Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

² Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.

Key words: composite, damage detection, embedded, fiber optics, FRP, piezoelectric, thin film

Scope of Session

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are seeing broad applications due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, resistance to fatigue and corrosion, and high tailor-ability, among others. However, FRPs sustain damage different than conventional metal structures, with damage modes such as delamination, fiber fracture, and debonding that often occur in the subsurface and within its laminate architecture. As a result, damage detection using visual inspection or conventional techniques is challenging. One particular approach is to embed novel, small-form-factor, sensor technologies within FRPs and between laminates for detecting damage in situ. Another related but different method is to modify the FRP and/or its epoxy matrix with conductive particles or nanomaterials so that the FRP becomes self-sensing. The goal of this special session is to showcase the breadth of research devoted to detecting composite damage through embedded sensing. Contributions that address the embedment of sensors such as fiber optics, piezoelectric transducers, thin films, nanomaterials, and passive wireless devices, among others, are welcomed.

Organizers: Debbie G. Senesky¹ and Kevin SC Kuang²

¹ Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

² National University of Singapore, Singapore,119077.

Key words: sensors, fiber optic, harsh environment, high temperature, extreme radiation, cryogenic, chemically corrosive, shock

Scope of Session

The ability to collect data and transduce signals within harsh environments will change the way we engineer automotive engines, industrial gas turbines, aircrafts and well-bore systems (e.g. geothermal and oil and gas exploration). This Special Session on “SHM within Extreme Harsh Environments” will provide a critical update on the status of realizing sensors and structural sensing systems for prohibitive environments (e.g., large temperature swings, radiation, and chemically corrosive). Hence, we solicit articles and original research papers on materials development, sensor development, fiber optic systems, and structural health monitoring for operation within harsh environments. Articles that address manufacturing, packaging, and industry implementation are also considered.

Organizers: Matthias Buderath¹

¹ Airbus Defence and Space, Head of Technolgy Management & Technology Maturation, Senior Expert Integrated System Health Management, Rechliner Straße, 85077 Manching Germany

Key words: SHM Certification, Verification and Validation Framework

Scope of Session

Maintenance credits are acquired when an SHM system can replace the existing industry standard maintenance for a given component or complete aircraft system and this enhances availability, maintainability and mission capabilities of aircraft. To reach this level, evolution of SHM development has to pass through effective process for technology maturation, development, verification, validation, qualification and finally certification. The session intends to provide an overview about the current activities related to technology maturation, development, verification, validation, qualification and certification. To manage the broad scope the session will be focused on: 1) Certification requirements. 2) Verification and Qualification Framework. 3) Providing examples to support verification and validation by simulation, testing (including flight testing).

Organizers: Jeong-Beom Ihn¹

Organizers: Christine M Schubert Kabban²

¹ Boeing Research and Technology, Seattle, WA USA

² Air Force Institute of Technology, WPAFB, OH USA

Key words: In-situ NDI, Hotspots, Probability of Detection, Reliability, Fatigue and Corrosion Damage, Control Points, Damage Tolerance, Aircraft Structures Integrity Program, Condition Based Maintenance

Scope of Session

Aircraft structural components may have known “hotspots” where any initial damage is anticipated to occur or has consistently been observed in the field. Automated inspection of these areas, or hot spot monitoring, may offer significant time and cost savings for aircraft maintainers, particularly when the hot spots exist in areas that are difficult to access or where traditional NDE inspection methods will not work. The session welcomes studies in the area of but not limited to: 1) In-situ NDI 2) Damage detection in complex structures 3) System uncertainty and reliability 4) V&V in operational environments 5) Probability of detection 6) Integration with Aircraft Structures Integrity Program 7) Condition Based Maintenance 8) Stochastic variability of baseline data

Organizers: Paul Swindell¹

Organizers: Eric Lindgren²

¹ FAA, William J Hughes Tech Center, Atlantic City, NJ

² USAF, AFRL/RXCA, Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH

Key words: Reliability, validation, SHM

Scope of Session

The reliability assessment approach detailed in MIL-HDBK-1823A is universally accepted for nondestructive evaluation, however how it is applied for SHM is in question due to the subtle but fundamental differences in the implementation of these fields based on common technologies. Novel approaches for meeting the reliability assessment/validation requirements for aerospace applications are sought that address the challenges of permanently attached sensor systems for SHM, while not compromising on the quality and/or confidence of the resulting metrics. Metrics of interest include the traditional probably of detection (PoD) and false alarm rates. In addition, metrics can address the validation of accuracy and precision for evaluating localization and severity of damage when coupled to a validated detection capability.

Organizers: Dy Le¹

Organizers: Ed Habtour¹

Organizers: Nam Pham²

¹ Army Research Laboratory

² NAVAIR

Key words: Damage precursor, VRAMS, Risk, Materials State Awareness, Damage-based Reconfigurable Maneuver, Fatigue Damage, Self Inspection, Self Diagnostics, Information Fusion, Remaining Useful Life

Scope of Session

A futuristic concept for an intelligent materials state awareness system called Virtual Risk-informed Agile Maneuver Sustainment or VRAMS has been developed. VRAMS integrates advanced and novel technologies, some of which may not exist today, to perform self diagnostics and inspections, materials damage precursor information fusion and remaining useful life computation, risk-informed capability assessment, and damage-based reconfigurable maneuvers. VRAMS also aims at enabling integrated capabilities embedded within vehicles (ground, air, and autonomous systems) to automatically gauge changes in their functional state, assess that functionality in the context of upcoming or even ongoing missions, and react accordingly to achieve mission requirements; increase vehicle availability; and substantially reduce vehicles' life cycle costs. Changes in the state of the hardware include structural fatigue, combat damage, and other aging system-related degradations. The resulting changes in system functionality would be integrated with data and information from on/off board systems for mission and maintenance planning and battle command systems to automatically compare the vehicles' available capability to the real-time demands imposed by a particular mission. This session encourages any technical papers disseminating research results in the above or related areas.