Large Area Sensors
Soft Elastomeric Capacitor (SEC)
The Soft Elastomeric Capacitor (SEC) sensor is a large area thin film sensor for monitoring strain on mesosurfaces. Arranged in a network configuration, the sensing system is analogous to a biological skin, where local strain can be monitored over a global area. The sensor output contains the additive strain measurement, in capacitance, of the two principal strain components over the monitored surface. The SEC sensor provides a low-cost, durable and robust sensing technology for the monitoring of mesoscale structures e.g. wind turbine blades, civil structures and aerospace structures.
The SEC is capable of localized damage detection through monitoring the signal of individual sensors. The figures below shows the SEC detecting a fatigue crack in a steel specimen and the monitoring of a large crack opening in concrete.
Selected Publications
Jin Yan, Austin Downey, An Chen, Simon Laflamme and Sammy Hassan, "Capacitance-based Sensor With Layered Carbon-fiber Reinforced Polymer and Titania-filled Epoxy." Composite Structures, vol. 227, 2019, p. 111247, doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2019.111247. PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, Anna Laura Pisello, Elena Fortunati, Claudia Fabiani, Francesca Luzi, Luigi Torre, Filippo Ubertini, and Simon Laflamme, "Durability and Weatherability of a Styrene-Ethylene-Butylene-Styrene (SEBS) Block Copolymer-based Sensing Skin for Civil Infrastructure Applications." Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 293, 2019, p. 269--280, doi:10.1016/j.sna.2019.04.022. PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, Jin Yan, Eric Zellner, Karl Kraus, Iris Rivero, and Simon Laflamme, "Use of Flexible Sensor to Characterize Biomechanics of Canine Skin." BMC Veterinary Research, vol. 15, no. 1, 2019, p. 40, doi:10.1186/s12917-018-1755-y. PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, MohammadKazem Sadoughi, Chao Hu, and Simon Laflamme, "Incipient Damage Detection for Large Area Structures Monitored with a Network of Soft Elastomeric Capacitors Using Relative Entropy." IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 18, no. 21, 2018, p. 8827--8834. doi:10.1109/jsen.2018.2868135. PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, MohammadKazem Sadoughi, Simon Laflamme, and Chao Hu, "Fusion of Sensor Geometry Into Additive Strain Fields Measured With Sensing Skin." Smart Materials and Structures, vol. 27, no. 7, 2018, p. 075033. doi:10.1088/1361-665X/aac4cd. PDF link BibTeX
MohammadKazem Sadoughi, Austin Downey, Jin Yan, Chao Hu, and Simon Laflamme, "Reconstruction of Unidirectional Strain Maps via Iterative Signal Fusion for Mesoscale Structures Monitored by a Sensing Skin." Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, vol. 112, 2018, p. 401-416. doi:10.1016/j.ymssp.2018.04.023. PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, Simon Laflamme and Filippo Ubertini, "Experimental Wind Tunnel Study of a Smart Sensing Skin for Condition Evaluation of a Wind Turbine Blade." Smart Materials and Structures, vol. 26, no. 12, 2017, p. 125005. doi:10.1088/1361-665X/aa9349 PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, Filippo Ubertini and Simon Laflamme, "Algorithm for Damage Detection in Wind Turbine Blades Using a Hybrid Dense Sensor Network With Feature Level Data Fusion." Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, vol. 168, 2017, p. 288-296. doi:10.1016/j.jweia.2017.06.016 PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, Chao Hu, and Simon Laflamme, "Optimal Sensor Placement Within a Hybrid Dense Sensor Network Using an Adaptive Genetic Algorithm With Learning Gene Pool." Structural Health Monitoring, vol. 17, no. 3, 2017, p. 450-460. doi:10.1177/1475921717702537 PDF link BibTeX
Austin Downey, Simon Laflamme and Filippo Ubertini, "Reconstruction of in-plane Strain Maps Using Hybrid Dense Sensor Network Composed of Sensing Skin." Measurement Science and Technology, vol. 27, no. 12, 2016, p. 124016. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/27/12/124016 PDF link BibTeX
Hussam Saleem, Austin Downey, Simon Laflamme, Matthias Kollosche and Filippo Ubertini, "Investigation of Dynamic Properties of a Novel Capacitive-based Sensing Skin for Nondestructive Testing." Materials Evaluation, vol. 73, no. 10, 2015, p. 1384-1319. PDF PDF_print link BibTeX
Jingzhe Wu, Chunhui Song, Hussam Saleem, Austin Downey and Simon Laflamme, "Network of Flexible Capacitive Strain Gauges for Reconstruction of Surface Strain." Measurement Science and Technology, vol. 26, no. 5, 2015, p. 055103. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/26/5/055103 PDF link BibTeX
Simon Laflamme, Filippo Ubertini, Hussam Saleem, Antonella D'Alessandro, Austin Downey, Halil Ceylan and Luigi Materazzi, "Dynamic Characterization of a Soft Elastomeric Capacitor for Structural Health Monitoring." ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 141, no. 8, 2014, p. 04014186. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0001151 PDF link BibTeX