Smart structures and sensors technology has resulted in new research frontiers that must be explored to realize the vision of future structures that are capable of self-sensing and monitoring, self-diagnosis and prognosis with intelligence, self-healing and repair, and adaptive response. These technologies can prevent loss-of-control (LOC) to aircraft, loss of human life and can minimize maintenance and life-cycle costs resulting in a prolonged service life. Such structures with automated structural health monitoring (SHM) systems will be made from multi-functional materials integrated with sensors, actuators, electronics, and intelligent software to perform a variety of functions. With smart sensing and intelligent diagnostics, structural conditions will be monitored in real time and residual life will be predicted while the structures are in service. Optimal structural performance will be achieved in operation because the actual structural conditions will be better known in real time and because the structures will be more adaptive to change. Damage will be mitigated and catastrophe prevented with built-in sensors and multi-functional materials.

The informal presentation will focus on four multidisciplinary research areas being developed my research group: multifunctional materials and sensors; structural damage diagnosis and prognosis; wireless smart sensor and energy harvesting. Lastly, Micro-class Unmanned Aircraft Systems (mUAS) with improved sense & avoid (S&A) capability using multi-sensor data fusion and SHM system will be explored.

报告人简介

Dr. Yuan has been with North Carolina State University since 1989. Early in his career, his research focused on the development of the scientific and engineering foundations of the thermo-mechanical response, failure, damage tolerance, and life assessment of composite materials and structures. Over the past decade, he has redirected his research into new areas, focusing on smart structures and materials and structural health monitoring (SHM).

During his career, he has worked with the National Center for Composite Materials Research, the Boeing Company, the NASA Langley Research Center (presently Structural Mechanics and Concepts Branch), and the Air Force Materials Laboratory.  In 2008, he was a visiting fellow at Magdalen College at the University of Oxford. Currently he serves as a Langley Professor at the National Institute of Aerospace. He is guiding a sizable research group with 15 Ph.D students and 10 visiting scholars from different countries.