Research Overview
Inspired by nature's vast deployment of sensory in the human body, SACL seeks to imitate that natural awareness in machines by integrating secondary systems into the structure to create an intelligent, multipurpose structural system.
Battery Integrated Composite Structures
While traditional EV systems depend on redundant support systems to shield battery cells from the elements: heat, structural impact, moisture intrusion; SACL has developed a scalable, integrable structural battery with built in sensing. This multifunctional energy storage composite (MESC) battery can be designed to replace single purpose structural members offering improvements in vehicle weight or enhanced capacity for better range performance.
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Stretchable Sensor Network
Stretchable sensor networks, a unique design created in the Structures and Composites Laboratory (SACL) at Stanford University, take advantage of the standard micro/nano-fabrication process to manufacture a variety of sensors on a two-dimensional network structure. Enabled by a serpentine wire design, the network can be expanded up to 10,000% of its original area, thus capable of covering a regular shaped structure for any SHM-based applications.
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Multi-Sensory State Estimation
SACL develops AI-based sensor fusion techniques to make physical systems —such as aircraft and robots— aware of their existing state. By intelligently combining data from various types of sensors positioned at strategic locations, inferences are made about the global state of the system that are impossible to estimate by using individual devices. Through multi-sensory perception, SACL's platforms achieve a degree of situational awareness that is analogous to what biological beings take for granted with nervous systems.
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Battery and Structural Health Monitoring
SACL explores sensing and diagnostic/prognostic technologies for structural health monitoring (SHM) and battery health monitoring. The aim is to develop a framework to correlate the material state changes of the structure by using different sensing modalities, such as ultrasonic wave propagation, strain and temperature measurements. Due to the intrinsic physical changes of the batteries electrochemical system undergoing charging discharging cycles, aging, and degradation the state of charge (SoC) and state of the health (SoH) can be obtained through acoustic-ultrasonic measurement
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SHM and Digital Twin for Civil Infrastructure
This interdisciplinary research area is dedicated to the development and implementation of structural Digital Twin for various applications. These include predictive maintenance of the built environment, health monitoring of buildings and infrastructure, and enhancing the resilience of smart cities. A Structural Digital Twin is a dynamic, real-time simulation of physical assets, continuously updated with data from multiple sources, including satellite imagery. This technology enables real-time structural risk assessment before, during, and after extreme events, providing a comprehensive tool for managing and safeguarding civil infrastructure.
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