Concept of Autonomous Self-Sensing Metamaterial Structures for Future Aircraft

Abstract

With increasing complexity of aircraft structures and demands for safety, structural health monitoring (SHM) systems are a frequently considered option to lower the cost and time consumption of aircraft maintenance. Recent advances in additive manufacturing techniques have enabled the fabrication of structures with artificially designed mechanical properties and the possibility to integrate smart materials directly into the structure. In this paper, we propose an innovative metamaterial structure with embedded piezoelectric transducers. The results show that the magnitude of the force applied to the structure can be determined from the electrical response of the transducers. A power of 5.9 mW was generated on a $400\ \mathrm{k}\Omega$ resistive load at an applied force of 11 N. The test sample shows the potential of the proposed structure for design of artificial structures and SHM systems in aerospace industry.