Materials Sciences LLC SBIR Phase I Award, June 2019

A critical part in maintaining the optimal performance of structures within in aviation and missile systems, such as launch rails, missile components, or even ground vehicles, is to ensure inspection, repair, or even replacement is performed at proper time intervals. Current methods to track the life and condition of structural components is to use wired or embedded sensors which add weight, bulk, but more importantly require drawing power from other critical components. The ideal solution would be to integrate an extremely small, ultra-thin sensor that is fully self-powered and can accurately track flight/service time through its operational environment, such as vibrational or thermal signature from the structure. This program proposes the development of a Frequency-Tunable energy harvesting system for tracking flight time in aviation structures. The system will be tuned to specific platforms (e.g., launchers, missiles, ground vehicles) to match its natural frequency of the system, which will render the most accurate recording of flight (or service) time. The system uses thin piezoelectric films where frequency tuning will be performed by (1) understanding the global response of the structure for strategic placement of the system to maximize energy harvesting, and (2) using engineered anistropic composite patches to promote a tailored