The Non-Destructive Evaluation/Structural Health Monitoring (NDE/SHM) Laboratory hosts experimental and computational facilities dedicated to the health monitoring of structural components and structural systems. Methods investigated include non-contact NDE techniques for high-speed inspections and structural health monitoring techniques based on permanently-attached sensors.
Work in the laboratory is both experimentally and numerically based. Salient equipment available in the NDE/SHM Lab include: three vibration-isolated tables, two high-power Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers, various CW lasers and interferometers, several high-speed data acquisition systems, full collection of acoustic/ultrasonic transducers including piezoelectric, air-coupled and magnetostrictive sensors, two RITEC systems for high-power ultrasonic testing, 8-channel Acoustic Emission system, modal testing equipment and two high-speed (1000 fps) digital cameras.
Current activities are focused on NDE/SHM applications that use acoustic or ultrasonic waves as the probing element, particularly in guided wave applications (plates, rods, joints, cables). The NDE/SHM Laboratory works closely with the Charles Lee Powell Structural Research Laboratories in those studies requiring large-scale testing capabilities.