The following scientific and technological breakthroughs were achieved that open new directions for the next generation of onboard aerospace health monitoring technologies. Specifically:
ESR1 achieved the following:
1.Development of a novel damage modelling approach to simulate brittle fractures in thin composite plies.
2.Development of an anisotropic 3-parameter cohesive phase-field model for modelling diverse intra-laminar failure modes in composites involving fiber fracture, fiber pullouts, fiber bridging, plastic shear deformation and subsequent cracking of matrix.
3.Development of a fast and efficient surrogate model based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to exploit the capability of Artificial Intelligence based approaches in minimizing the computational costs incurred during damage modelling.
ESR2 achieved the following:
1.A novel state of the numerical model was developed to simulate transient wave propagation and damage interaction in one-dimensional composite structures.
2.A state of the art 2D wave propagation model was developed and programmed for wave-damage interaction in flat plate structures.
3.A major upgrade of Aernnova’s SHM device, PAMELA, was undertaken where hardware and software modifications were done to enhance its capabilities.
ESR3 achieved the following:
1. Development of a general framework for optimal sensor configuration based on value of information by trading-off information and cost.
2. Development of a methodology for simultaneous optimal actuator and sensor configuration based on (1) a rigorous quantification of modelling uncertainties and (2) a description of the cost of the system using convexification strategies to address the objective function in a highly efficient manner.
3. Development of a multi-level Bayesian inverse problem for (1) time-frequency (TF) model class selection and (2) damage localization along with an efficient algorithm that facilitates the identification of multiple locations of damage within a structure.
It was envisaged that the SAFE-FLY project would have a significant impact in increasing social awareness on modern aircraft safety as well as inspire the new generation of aerospace engineers. To facilitate this, the project had a communication and public engagement strategy to focus on communicating to the public. The following activities were performed:
• The Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) exhibited their work at the Farnborough International Airshow having a stand dedicated to illustrating the SAFE-FLY technologies
• Ten high quality green Open Access publications containing the essential scientific developments of SAFE-FLY were published in peer-reviewed journals for effectively disseminating the research results.
• The ESRs prepared a SAFE-FLY video illustrating the challenge of inspecting damage in a modern aircraft.
https://youtu.be/IDwpOSYoqcY(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie) • The work produced by ESRs was presented to high-calibre international conferences also attracting industrial audience interested in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) as well as in ‘numerical modelling of composite structures’
• The scientific and technological developments were communicated to targeted industrial and academic researchers through the SAFE-FLY dedicated Network Short Courses (NSC) organised by UNOTT and AERNNOVA.
• A public-facing SAFE-FLY website has been set up at
https://safe-fly.eu/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie) and a file depository at
https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie) and
http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie).
• An open source Matlab code related to optimising the sensing configuration on a structural panel was published in the SoftwareX international journal under the GNU General Public License.
• Presentations were given at UNOTT’s Institute for Aerospace Technologies Workshops
• The technological demonstrator (PAMELA), property of Aernnova, was not demonstrated to the public as a physical prototype. This was due to COVID restrictions and the cancellation of the TRA2020 event. There were however multiple demonstrations of the system within reports that the Consortium generated.
All deliverables have been submitted.
All milestones have been achieved.
All recruitment actions have been completed.
