Robust, Real Time, Full Field Strain Monitoring Over Large Areas

NextGen Aeronautics in collaboration with Virginia Tech plan to build on our Phase I work and propose to further develop our concepts and designs for a scalable, fast and easy to use optical strain measurement system. Our proposed Phase II effort will focus on the development of a dual level optical camera system which uses one set of cameras to measure strains over the entire test specimen and a second set of cameras to allow high resolution strain measurements in critical areas. Further development of data fusion algorithms and the point collocation meshfree method from Phase I will allow real time operation of the optical strain monitoring system. A stochastic material characterization algorithm, initially developed in the Phase I effort, will also be extended in the Phase II effort to allow characterization of nonlinear constitutive properties and analysis of failure criteria. A graphical user interface will be designed to allow the user to easily setup and run the tests, visualize displacement and strain data, view material characterization information, store results and perform automated on-line strain based test control. Extensive testing of the subsystems and completed optical strain measurement system will be performed on a variety of test specimens to verify the strain measurement performance and operation of the system. A TRL of 7 will be achieved by the end of the Phase II program. The proposed system offers a significant increase in system scalability, accuracy, and automation compared to currently available optical strain measurement systems and will have the potential to dramatically reduce testing costs for both the DoD and other commercial users.