Flexible, High-Frequency, High-Durability, and Multifunctional Sensor Film

DHS has an unmet need for measuring ultra-high-intensity, near-field blast overpressure caused by internal blast within a commercial aircraft explosive threat environment in order to facilitate characterization of blast effects to commercial aircraft structures.The goal of this DHS SBIR OATS project is to deliver advanced thin, flexible, conformable, multi-sensing-point film sensor technology for measuring ultra-high intensity, high-speed blast overpressure distribution on hard surfaces due to near-field blast events.With the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) SBIR support, Newport Sensors, Inc. (NSI) has successfully developed a groundbreaking deformable, conformable, multi-sensing-point, ultra-low-profile ballistic film sensor technology for measuring ultra-high-intensity and high-speed impact pressure.Preliminary near-field live fire tests conducted by DHS CAVM Program in conjunction with DoD-ARL have shown significant potential of the NSI/ARL film pressure sensors for measuring near-field blast overpressure on a metal pendulum plate. However, the combination of the ultra-high speed, pressure and temperature as well as the hard surface presents significant challenges to the sensor survivability for near-field blast measurement applications.The project will tackle these challenges by investigating materials for sensors and substrates and as well as methods for sensor bonding and protection, in order to deliver deformable, conformable, multi-sensing-point, ultra-low-profile, reusable (1 to 3 live fire tests) film sensors that can be applied/bonded to flat or curved hard surface to measure accurate distributed reflective blast overpressures in the range of 100,000 psi to 150,000 psi in high temperature and high pressure near-field blast environment.