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Sensors Provide Early Diagnosis Of Microcracks In Aircraft |
 Today's aircraft are in service virtually around the clock and must operate reliably and safely at all times. An active sensor system helps to detect concealed fatigue cracks in aircraft bodies, thus reducing maintenance times considerably.
If a tiny crack in the hull of an aircraft remains undetected for a long time, it can easily spread and put passengers’ lives at risk. Each component is therefore subject to international maintenance regulations: Aircraft bodies must be thoroughly inspected every 15 to 18 months, depending on the type of plane. This often requires the technicians to dismantle an aircraft’s interior lining – an expensive and time-consuming process involving several days of downtime in the hangar. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF in Darmstadt are developing a sensor system that allows engineers to continuously monitor the condition of their aircraft and detect any damage at an early stage.
The system is based on piezoceramic sensors that are attached to the aircraft body in a network pattern. What is special about these sensors is that they start to oscillate when a voltage is applied to them – and when they are subjected to pressure, they generate voltage. The scientists make use of both effects: While the piezo foils cause part of the hull to oscillate, the others measure the component’s response to this stimulation. “We investigated the oscillation behavior of damaged struts and rivets in an aircraft body and compared it with that of intact parts,” explains LBF project manager Dirk Mayer. “If a component is defective, it oscillates at a different frequency from one that is intact when stimulated by the piezoceramics – just as a cracked glass sounds different from an undamaged one when you tap it with your fingernail.” In this way, the researchers can accurately track down faults and monitor their development – be it fatigue cracks in the hull and wings, or rivets and other joining parts coming loose. This form of observation is also referred to as ‘structural health monitoring’ (SHM).
“With the help of this system, any damage behind the lining or in difficult-to-reach places can be identified quickly and easily, thus reducing maintenance times and inspection costs,” says Mayer. The researchers have already performed tests on a hull component in the laboratory, and are now implementing the new technology with standardized piezo and electronic components. The system will then also be suitable for use in vehicle manufacture or engine and plant construction.
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Dear Editor,
I hope you can help me or at least point me in the right direction. My neighbor just put up a huge CB Radio antennea, the thing is higher that the roof of his home, the problem is, now I have interference through our television set speakers. We can hear him speaking although it is not too clear. How can I fix the problem so that we can watch t.v. without hearing this noise? Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerly,
Donna R.
Dear Donna,
If your neighbor's transmissions are interfering with your TV, the best thing for you to do is complain to the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC investigates cases of interference and they will determine if your neighbor's transmissions contain out-of-band signals. You might also try talking to your neighbor. If his antenna is for amateur radio rather than Citizens Band, "ham" radio operators have a policy of supplying a free filter for your TV in such cases.
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ElectronicDesignNet News
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We scan the wires, web sites, blogs and news media for the most interesting and relevant information, then summarize it for you in a convenient format, organized by topic areas during the week:
You can stay on top of things without wasting your precious time sifting through lots of noise. Subscribe to our digest and receive it in your eMail, or come to our site and read it in your web browser. Digest eMail subscriptions can be managed on the Newsletters tab of the "My Settings - Edit Profile" page once you register.
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Altera Moves To Ease Serial-Bus-Interconnect Issues On Boards |
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Product Design - Wednesday
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Wednesday, 09 May 2007 |
As boards have become more congested and the volume of data moving between chips has grown, the traditional approach of simply extending a CPU parallel bus to the other major chips on the board has broken down. Led, perhaps, by Intel's reliance on PCI Express (PCI-E) and Texas Instruments' use of serial RapidIO (SRIO) for board-to-board and, increasingly, onboard interconnect, designers are beginning to consider high-speed serial links as the most effective way to move large volumes of data between chips. Gigabit Ethernet, coming from heavy use in communications backplanes, is also getting consideration in that area....more  (0) Comments |
Inventory Correction Spurs Q1 Semi Supplier Shake-Up |
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Business News - Monday
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Wednesday, 09 May 2007 |
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The semiconductor industry's ongoing inventory correction spurred a major Q1 shake-up in market research firm IC Insights Inc.'s ranking of the top 20 semiconductor suppliers in comparison to its full-year 2006 ranking. In a research note, IC Insights President Bill McClean said that Sony Corp., Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Toshiba Corp. each gained two positions in Q1. Stimulated by increasing internal transfers for its PS3 game machines, Sony moved into the top 10 ranking and currently resides in ninth place. Hynix moved from seventh to fifth place, while Toshiba jumped passed Texas Instruments Inc. and STMicroelectronics NV to secure the number three ranking....more (0) Comments |
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Altera Introduces Arria GX Family Of Low-Cost, Transceiver-Based FPGAs |
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Product Showcase - Friday
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Tuesday, 08 May 2007 |
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Altera introduced transceiver-based FPGAs, the Arria GX family. Arria GX FPGAs are optimized to support PCI Express (PCIe), Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and Serial RapidIOTM (SRIO) standards up to 2.5 Gbps Features of the Arria GX family include the Stratix II GX transceiver technology, flip-chip packages for superior signal integrity, software tools and verified intellectual property (IP) cores. To immediately start designing with Arria GX devices, engineers can utilize Quartus II design software version 7.1. Volume production begins in June of this year....more (0) Comments |
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Customers Slow To Tune Into AT&T And Verizon's TV Over Fiber |
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Business News - Monday
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Tuesday, 08 May 2007 |
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Both AT&T and Verizon have been utilizing fiber optic cabling to bring TV to customers' homes and to compete with cable companies. AT&T is getting some bad news on its U-verse TV system: not only is it costing $1.4 billion more than anticipated to install, but the firm's decision to use copper for the final leg into customers' homes is being called into question. AT&T said it will spend as much as $6.5 billion to deploy the TV service by 2008 and the company also cut the number of homes the service will initially serve by one million, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Both AT&T and Verizon Communication have been utilizing fiber optic cabling to bring TV to customers' home and to compete with cable companies, which have been taking away telephone service from the former Baby Bell companies....more (0) Comments |
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