Grant: Alliance Grants
University of Waterloo
$75,000.00
Self-powered sensing for structural health monitoring
FY 2024-25
Summary
The importance of air travel as a fast and efficient form of transport of passengers and cargo continuously increases in the current context of globalization and population growth. Without exception, the highest priority for air travel is the structural integrity of the aircraft itself. Aircraft structural health monitoring (SHM) is the assessment of an aircraft's structural condition using advanced sensor technologies, where data can be collected, transferred and analyzed to assess vehicle integrity. Wired sensors have been incorporated and deployed in aircrafts for the SHM purpose. Nevertheless, the deployment of wired sensors is largely constrained due to the extra weight of the running wires (for power supply and signal transmission) and the installation/maintenance difficulties. Shimco North America Inc. (Shimco), a Cambridge-based company with a leading position in the shim industry, identified this gap and niche market. In 2015 Shimco decided to collaborate with the University of Waterloo to develop novel self-powered sensor technologies that can be incorporated in their next-generation shim products. From past collaborations, the UW team and Shimco have successfully developed the first generation of self-powered sensors based on triboelectric devices. In a proof-of-the-concept demo system, an energy harvesting unit, an energy collection and storage unit and a wireless transmission unit have been integrated. Inspired by the excellent progress, Shimco will continue the collaboration with the UW team to develop high-performance piezoelectric nanogenerators that can be operated at extreme temperatures by exploring new materials, advanced fabrication and optimized device structure and packaging. This project will mature the energy harvesting technologies for the commercialization phase, enable Shimco to develop the next generation, high-value shim products and, provide excellent training opportunities for HQP in the fields of nanotechnologies, material sciences, nanoelectronics and shim manufacture.
Program
Alliance Grants
Recipient
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
590900-2023
Name nom
Ban, Dayan D
Department département
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Organization id
33
Institution établissement
University of Waterloo
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2024
Competition year année de concours
2023
Award amount
75000
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
703
Area of application group en
Transportation systems and services
Area of application group fr
Services et systèmes de transport
Area of application en
Aerospace
Area of application fr
Aérospatial
Research subject code
2515
Research subject group en
Electrical and electronic engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie électrique et électronique
Research subject en
Electronic materials and components
Research subject fr
Matériels et composants électroniques
Field of research list names en
Not available
Field of research list names fr
Non disponible
Socioeconomic objective list names en
Not available
Socioeconomic objective list names fr
Non disponible
Application title
Self-powered sensing for structural health monitoring
Keywords
energy conversion; naogenerators; piezoelectric materials; self-powering devices and systems; structural health monitoring
Application summary
The importance of air travel as a fast and efficient form of transport of passengers and cargo continuously increases in the current context of globalization and population growth. Without exception, the highest priority for air travel is the structural integrity of the aircraft itself. Aircraft structural health monitoring (SHM) is the assessment of an aircraft's structural condition using advanced sensor technologies, where data can be collected, transferred and analyzed to assess vehicle integrity. Wired sensors have been incorporated and deployed in aircrafts for the SHM purpose. Nevertheless, the deployment of wired sensors is largely constrained due to the extra weight of the running wires (for power supply and signal transmission) and the installation/maintenance difficulties. Shimco North America Inc. (Shimco), a Cambridge-based company with a leading position in the shim industry, identified this gap and niche market. In 2015 Shimco decided to collaborate with the University of Waterloo to develop novel self-powered sensor technologies that can be incorporated in their next-generation shim products. From past collaborations, the UW team and Shimco have successfully developed the first generation of self-powered sensors based on triboelectric devices. In a proof-of-the-concept demo system, an energy harvesting unit, an energy collection and storage unit and a wireless transmission unit have been integrated. Inspired by the excellent progress, Shimco will continue the collaboration with the UW team to develop high-performance piezoelectric nanogenerators that can be operated at extreme temperatures by exploring new materials, advanced fabrication and optimized device structure and packaging. This project will mature the energy harvesting technologies for the commercialization phase, enable Shimco to develop the next generation, high-value shim products and, provide excellent training opportunities for HQP in the fields of nanotechnologies, material sciences, nanoelectronics and shim manufacture.
