An In-Depth Look at the Effectiveness of Smart Materials for Monitoring and Control of Composite Structural Panels

Author(s):  
Mark Riley ◽  
Farid Taheri

In recent years the field of smart structures, including sensing and control, has been growing at an extraordinary rate. As of today, however, there has been relatively little work performed in applying this technology for monitoring and control of offshore and marine structures. In offshore environment, structures are subjected to critical loading cycles (e.g., wave action, temperature changes, and heavily corrosive environment to name a few), unparalleled to those in any other environment. With the costs that are associated with the manufacturing of marine vessels and structures, and their day-to-day operations and maintenance cost, the selection of an effective method of monitoring their performance and integrity, as well as their control is of paramount importance. In this paper, we will present a brief, yet detailed description of the different smart materials that are available for structural monitoring and control, such as electrorheological fluids, shape memory alloys, fiber optics, piezoelectrics, and magnetostrictives. We will also discuss the applications of these materials, including their advantages and shortfalls. The outlined discussion will help the reader to select the most optimum smart material for a given application. The paper will further discuss an ongoing investigation of a piezoelectric system that is currently being developed for implementation into fiber-reinforced composite panels used in marine vessel applications.

10.29007/v639 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannus Wilhelmus Wouters ◽  
Jai Sankar Seelam ◽  
Klas Jan Agema

The legislative norms for treated wastewater diffuse in terms of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations are becoming increasingly stringent in the EU region. Compliance with the consent values compelled the water authorities to implement moving bed biofilters (MBFs) for tertiary stage effluent polishing. However, on-site and field surveys reveal that numerous MBF units suffer from non-optimal operational conditions, logistical challenges and irregular monitoring. This makes meeting the N-P criterion quite a challenging and expensive affair. It is therefore important to optimize their day-to-day operations, facilitate access to reliable and real-time status updates, and troubleshoot the failures. In this direction, an "internet-of-things", radio frequency ID (RFID) and cloud based monitoring and control tool, Sand-Cycle, was successfully developed, tested and implemented to monitor MBFs. The current study presents full- scale application of the developed remote control and mote technology at two wastewater treatment works. Sand-Cycle illustrated real-time dashboards indicating performance grading factors viz. in-situ average sand circulation rate, active bed volume and filter homogeneity. This presented clear instructions for detected malfunctions and enabled the operators to optimize the MBF output with limited effort. Further technical and technological advancements of such IoT based setups can actively assist in tackling long-term sustainability and wastewater management issues.


2013 ◽  
Vol 834-836 ◽  
pp. 1172-1176
Author(s):  
Xu Feng Tong ◽  
A Ru Han Bao ◽  
Lei Yang

Aiming at the current maintenance of the lead-acid batteries on CDMA bases, this paper analyses the main reasons for the battery failure and puts forward the system for the remote monitoring and control of the battery. It introduces the parameters about the battery current, voltage and temperature as well as the power relay working theory. Furthermore, the remote monitoring platform is developed to monitor the battery working states in real time. With the data analyzed, the automatic control will get started to charge/discharge the battery. The system can prolong the working life of the lead-acid battery effectively and improve the battery maintenance efficiency so as to reduce the maintenance cost.


1987 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 81-87
Author(s):  
J C Bell

Twenty-five years of experience has proven the high reliability of satellite communications. The creation of the International Maritime Satellite Organisation in 1979 opened the way for development of small satellite terminals for use by individual users. The recent order for a new generation of satellites to serve the needs of this 45-nation co-operative and development of the Standard-C system will enable it to provide a message/data service to small and low cost terminals by 1988. Standard-C will create new opportunities to remotely monitor and control processes regardless of distances from a central operations centre. It will permit those on duty to receive routine reports automatically at fixed intervals and/or when measurements fall outside pre-set limits. In the event of an abnormal situation developing it would be possible for the controller to interrogate the sensors at the site by ‘polling’ at any desired interval. This would enable a process to be continuously monitored and devices or systems remotely controlled as required. Because the satellites provide global coverage vast areas can be monitored and controlled independent of local telephone or microwave links. This may be particularly important in areas where individual sensor sites and their links may be vulnerable to disruption due to the possibility of flooding, landslides, earthquakes, etc. In addition, such a system could be used to control day to day operations of sluice gates, etc. in remote areas and thereby lead to improved water management techniques.


Author(s):  
David C. Joy

Personal computers (PCs) are a powerful resource in the EM Laboratory, both as a means of automating the monitoring and control of microscopes, and as a tool for quantifying the interpretation of data. Not only is a PC more versatile than a piece of dedicated data logging equipment, but it is also substantially cheaper. In this tutorial the practical principles of using a PC for these types of activities will be discussed.The PC can form the basis of a system to measure, display, record and store the many parameters which characterize the operational conditions of the EM. In this mode it is operating as a data logger. The necessary first step is to find a suitable source from which to measure each of the items of interest. It is usually possible to do this without having to make permanent corrections or modifications to the EM.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Giannoccaro ◽  
Armando Ursitti ◽  
Maurizio Prosperi

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