A Novel Smart Fatigue Damage Sensor for Structural Health Monitoring of Critical Components of Structures

Abstract

In this paper we present the details of a novel fatigue sensor designed to monitor health status of mission critical mechanical systems. The designed fatigue sensor is unique in the respect that it senses fatigue related degradation before the actual catastrophic failure happens and gives ample time for replacement of the fatigued part. The electronics of the sensor is wireless enabled and can be made to work without any power source so that it can be attached to critical structural members of the structure during manufacture and can be left in place until the part is replaced