"Structural Health Monitoring of complex composite components under environmental and operational conditions" - January 25, 2024, Thursday, 3:00 pm, Pavilhão de Mecânica II, amphitheatre AM

Date: January 25, 2024, Thursday
Time: 3:00 pm
Place: Pavilhão de Mecânica II, amphitheatre AM

• Speaker: Francisco de Sá Rodrigues (Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London)

• Title: "Structural Health Monitoring of complex composite components under environmental and operational conditions"

• Abstract:

Composite materials have been increasingly incorporated within the aerospace industry by constituting a large portion of aircraft components. These materials provide large overall weight reductions of the structure leading to more affordable and greener solutions with lower fuel consumption rates. However, these materials are also prone to the transverse impacts and the generation of Barely Visible Impact Damages (BVID), which are hard to detect and can lead to catastrophic failures by significantly reducing the component’s residual strength. To circumvent this, the integration of Structural Health Monitoring systems in the aircraft component can provide on-demand integrity indications allowing the adoption of condition-based maintenance strategies. Particularly, the usage of ultrasonic base vibrations, through the propagation of guided waves, interacts with structural damages providing indications of its presence and location by analysing patterns and features in the acquired signals. Furthermore, by combining these approaches with new technologies, such as Additive Manufacturing, the need for cables for acquisition of electrical signals (largest weight contribution in the system) is avoided. This way, Structural Health Monitoring paves the way for the creation of lighter and smarter aircrafts whilst ensuring constant operational safety and thus reducing the largest contributions to green-house gases from the aerospace industry.

• Short Biographic Note:

Currently serving as a research associate within the Structural Integrity and Health Monitoring group at the Department of Aeronautics in Imperial College London, Francisco de Sá Rodrigues has earned both his BSc and MSc in Aerospace Engineering, with a specialization in Structures and Materials, from Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon. During his MSc thesis, Francisco focused on the development of new Non-Destructive Testing techniques for monitoring Composite Materials. This research was conducted in collaboration with Sabancı University Integrated Manufacturing Research and Application Centre in Istanbul. Subsequently, Francisco embarked on his PhD journey at the Department of Aeronautics, in Imperial College London, where he delved into the realm of Structural Health Monitoring for large and complex composite structures, representative of aircraft fuselage sections, both numerically and experimentally where he developed new technologies and frameworks for sensorization of new smart aircraft fuselages. His PhD research concluded the 9-year-long SHERLOC project, part of the CleanSky2 JTI, with other industry partners. His current research includes the development of new Structural Health Monitoring systems for Hydrogen storage envisioning the transition to Green Aviation transition (coordinated by Rolls Royce), and the creation of Digital Twin systems for aircraft in-situ monitoring (funded by the European Union).

This is another Seminar of the “Seminars@DEM” cycle.
Next Seminar, February 15, 2024, Thursday, 2:30 pm.