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NASA Evaluates Sensor Technology for Future Aircraft Efficiency

Written by thomas · Filed Under Aeronautics News 

July 14, 2008

thomas

EDWARDS, Calif., July 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — NASA is evaluating
an advanced, fiber optic-based sensing technology that could aid
development of active control of wing shape. Controlling a wing’s shape in
flight would allow it to take advantage of aerodynamics and improve overall
aircraft efficiency.

The Fiber Optic Wing Shape Sensor system measures and displays the
shape of the aircraft’s wings in flight. The system also has potential for
improving aircraft safety when the technology is used to monitor the
aircraft structure.

Flight tests on NASA’s Ikhana, a modified Predator B unmanned aircraft
adapted for civilian research, are under way at NASA’s Dryden Flight
Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The effort
represents one of the first comprehensive flight validations of fiber optic
sensor technology.

“Generations of aircraft and spacecraft could benefit from work with
the new sensors if the sensors perform in the sky as they have in the
laboratory,” said Lance Richards, Dryden’s Advanced Structures and
Measurement group lead.

The weight reduction that fiber optic sensors would make possible could
reduce operating costs and improve fuel efficiency. The development also
opens up new opportunities and applications that would not be achievable
with conventional technology. For example, the new sensors could enable
adaptive wing-shape control.

“Active wing-shape control represents the gleam in the eye of every
aerodynamicist,” Richards said. “If the shape of the wing can be changed in
flight, then the efficiency and performance of the aircraft can be
improved, from takeoff and landing to cruising and maneuvering.”

Six hair-like fibers located on the top surface of Ikhana’s wings
provide more than 2,000 strain measurements in real time. With a combined
weight of less than two pounds, the fibers are so small that they have no
significant effects on aerodynamics. The sensors eventually could be
embedded within composite wings in future aircraft.

To validate the new sensors’ accuracy, the research team is comparing
results obtained with the fiber optic wing shape sensors against those of
16 traditional strain gauges co-located on the wing alongside the new
sensors.

“The sensors on Ikhana are imperceptibly small because they’re located
on fibers approximately the diameter of a human hair,” Richards explained.
“You can get the information you need from the thousands of sensors on a
few fibers without the weight and complexity of conventional sensors.
Strain gauges, for example, require three copper lead wires for every
sensor.”

When using the fiber optic sensors, researchers do not require
analytical models for determining strain and other measurements on the
aircraft because data derived with the sensors include all of the actual
measurements being sought.

Another safety-related benefit of the lightweight fiber optic sensors
is that thousands of sensors can be left on the aircraft during its
lifetime, gathering data on structural health and performance. By knowing
the stress levels at thousands of locations on the aircraft, designers can
more optimally design structures and reduce weight while maintaining
safety, Richards explained. The net result could be a reduction in fuel
costs and an increase in range.

Further, intelligent flight control software technology now being
developed can incorporate structural monitoring data from the fiber optic
sensors to compensate for stresses on the airframe, helping prevent
situations that might otherwise result in a loss of flight control.

By extension, the application of the technology to wind turbines could
improve their performance by making their blades more efficient.

“An improvement of only a few percent equals a huge economic benefit,”
Richards said. “The sensors could also be used to look at the stress of
structures, like bridges and dams, and possibilities extend to potential
biomedical uses as well. The applications of this technology are
mind-boggling.”

NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate is supporting algorithm
and systems development, instrument and ground test validation of the new
sensor system. For more information on NASA’s aeronautics research, visit:

http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov

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