Localized ("Hot Spot") Monitoring
"Hot spots" are specific locations in a structure that have been identified as being particularly prone to damage during operation and under variable loading conditions. These areas of intense focus can affect the integrity and performance of an entire structure. Any structure can have "hot spots", but they are most common on aircraft, rotorcraft, pipelines, and bridges.
Acellent has developed a variety of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems that focus on "hot spots", such as joints and other vulnerable components. SHM systems can be installed on the structure in these exact locations in order to monitor the integrity and provide early warning at the first signs of damage. Our SHM-Patch software is designed specifically for this use-case.
An SHM system that provides localized monitoring of specific "hot spot" locations provides the following capabilities and advantages:
- Detection of delaminations, disbonds, and other hidden damage in composite structures
- Monitoring for the initiation and growth of fatigue cracks
- Warning at the first sign of corrosion
- Assessing the state or type of damage
- Estimating the progression of the damage
- Classifying the severity of the damage
- Real-time inspection of inaccessible and hard-to-reach areas, without requiring structural disassembly
- Options for on-demand, fully-automated, or hybrid inspection procedures
- Displays actionable, easy-to-interpret results in a user-friendly interface
- Long-term monitoring and prognostics
- Monitoring of multiple "hot spots" simultaneously
