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Browsing by Author "Martin, Luke Andrew"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Developing a Self-Powered, Wireless Damage Detection System for Structural Health Monitoring Applications
    Martin, Luke Andrew (Virginia Tech, 2004-03-23)
    The research presented in this manuscript introduces an independent structural health monitoring (SHM) system capable of performing impedance-based testing and detecting shifts in resonant frequencies. This independent structural health monitoring system incorporates a low power wireless transmitter that sends a warning signal when damage is detected in a structure. Two damage detection techniques were implemented on the SHM system and successfully used for evaluating structural damage. The first impedance-based technique is used to detect a gouge introduced to a composite plate. The second technique is a modal parameter technique that analyzes shifts in natural frequency; this technique was used to detect structural changes in an aluminum cantilever beam. In additional to the above test structures, an aircraft rib provided by the United States Air Force was also tested. This test was performed using the HP 4192A impedance analyzer so that the advantage of high frequency impedance-based tested could be demonstrated. Insight is given into the power characteristics of SHM systems and the need to incorporate power harvesting into these SHM devices is addressed. Also, a comparison between digital signal processors and microprocessors is included in this document.
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    Fusing Modeling and Testing to Enhance Environmental Testing Approaches
    Devine, Timothy Andrew (Virginia Tech, 2019-07-09)
    A proper understanding of the dynamics of a mechanical system is crucial to ensure the highest levels of performance. The understanding is frequently determined through modeling and testing of components. Modeling provides a cost effective method for rapidly developing a knowledge of the system, however the model is incapable of accounting for fluctuations that occur in physical spaces. Testing, when performed properly, provides a near exact understanding of how a pat or assembly functions, however can be expensive both fiscally and temporally. Often, practitioners of the two disciplines work in parallel, never bothering to intersect with the other group. Further advancement into ways to fuse modeling and testing together is able to produce a more comprehensive understanding of dynamic systems while remaining inexpensive in terms of computation, financial cost, and time. Due to this, the goal of the presented work is to develop ways to merge the two branches to include test data in models for operational systems. This is done through a series of analytical and experimental tasks examining the boundary conditions of various systems. The first venue explored was an attempt at modeling unknown boundary conditions from an operational environment by modeling the same system in known configurations using a controlled environment, such as what is seen in a laboratory test. An analytical beam was studied under applied environmental loading with grounding stiffnesses added to simulate an operational condition and the response was attempted to be matched by a free boundaries beam with a reduced number of excitation points. Due to the properties of the inverse problem approach taken, the response between the two systems matched at control locations, however at non-control locations the responses showed a large degree of variation. From the mismatch in mechanical impedance, it is apparent that improperly representing boundary conditions can have drastic effects on the accuracy of models and recreational tests. With the progression now directed towards modeling and testing of boundary conditions, methods were explored to combine the two approaches working together in harmony. The second portion of this work focuses on modeling an unknown boundary connection using a collection of similar testable boundary conditions to parametrically interpolate to the unknown configuration. This was done by using data driven models of the known systems as the interpolating functions, with system boundary stiffness being the varied parameter. This approach yielded near identical parametric model response to the original system response in analytical systems and showed some early signs of promise for an experimental beam. After the two conducted studies, the potential for extending a parametric data driven model approach to other systems is discussed. In addition to this, improvements to the approach are discussed as well as the benefits it brings.
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    A Novel Material Modulus Function for Modeling Viscoelastic Materials
    Martin, Luke Andrew (Virginia Tech, 2011-04-01)
    Accurately modeling damping in engineering structures has plagued scientist and engineers for decades. The integration of viscoelastic materials into engineering structures can reduce undesired vibrations and serve as an effective passive control mechanism. Various techniques have been developed to model viscoelastic materials. The growing popularity of finite element analysis in the 1980s and 1990s spawned new techniques for modeling damping in complex structures. The technique defined in this dissertation can be incorporated into finite element models. In metals, the modulus of elasticity can be modeled as a constant. That is, the modulus of elasticity is not treated as a function of frequency in dynamic models. For viscoelastic materials, the modulus of elasticity can be assumed to be constant for static forces and sinusoidal forcing functions. However, when viscoelastic materials undergo excitations from a random or transient forcing function the constant modulus of elasticity assumption may not be valid. This is because the second order equation of motion has non-constant coefficients or coefficients that vary as a function of frequency. The Golla-Hughes-McTavish (GHM) method is a technique used to incorporate the frequency dependency of viscoelastic materials into finite element models. The GHM method is used as a way to alleviate working with second order differential equations with non-constant coefficients. This dissertation presents the theory for a new material modulus function suitable for application within the framework of the GHM method. However, the new material modulus function uses different assumptions and is referred to as the Modified GHM method or MGHM method. The MGHM method is shown to improve the curve fit and damping characteristics of the GHM method. Additionally, the MGHM method is shown to reduce to the GHM method when the original GHM assumptions are imposed.