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Zlín, November 20, 2023 – Scientists from the Centre for Polymer Systems (CPS) at Tomas Bata University (TBU) in Zlín are in the process of developing polymer materials that will be used to produce safety sensors used in the aviation industry. Unlike the ceramic sensors commonly used in aircraft today, the novel sensors will feature lesser weight and greater affordability.

Currently, safety wear sensors are widely used in the aviation industry. As they are based mostly on ceramic materials whose density is relatively high, they are relatively heavy, mechanically fragile and expensive devices and are used for aircraft parts where wear and tear issues are expected to occur most frequently.

“In aircraft structures, wear sensors record the vibration of certain parts of the aeroplane, such as wings or engines, and assess whether or not the parts are functioning properly. As the sensors are small and heavy, however, they cannot be used anywhere. Therefore, there are no wear sensors on certain parts of the equipment and safety engineers check such components in person by visual inspection or by instruments,” explains Dr. Miroslav Mrlík, project leader and CPS-based scientist.

As a result, the use of ceramic sensors is being phased out and the demand for sensors made of polymers is increasing. That is why CPS scientists have joined the research effort which is part of the European COST project (CA 18203) entitled Optimizing Design for Inspection (ODIN). The activity involves a consortium of 26 countries involved in addressing the issue of design optimization to improve the inspection of safety systems used in the aviation industry.

The wear sensors are produced by Zlín scientists from polymer materials based on a specific formulation. This makes the sensors lightweight and more affordable. The resulting end product will take the form of a thin, lightweight film that is flexible and can be applied to virtually any part of the aircraft, allowing a larger area of the aircraft structure to be sensed.

“Some polymer materials have specific properties that make them capable of generating an electrical charge due to mechanical stimulation, particularly vibration. This electrical charge can then be converted into a form of signal which, when processed by a computer, provides specific information. If the vibration changes, e.g. due to altered properties of the structural material, the signal and its specific information will change as well with sufficient time before the structural material is damaged,” describes doc. Tomáš Sedláček, Supervisor of the Polymer Processing Research Group at CPS.

While a single small ceramic sensor costs more than c. four thousand Czech korunas, a polymer film sensor with twice the sensing area costs one hundred and fifty korunas. CPS scientists now work intensely with Cardiff University in Wales and the manufacturer of Airbus planes. Designers from the University have developed a model aircraft wing, where the Zlín scientists are testing the polymer film. “We are now in the stage of development, testing our film directly on the wing structure under simulated conditions in Cardiff. We also need to find a way for the sensor made of the foil to communicate with a possible device that will continue to process the transmitted signal,” adds Dr. Miroslav Mrlík.

“How large the real-life sensor in the form of a foil will be will depend on how the wing, for example, behaves during the tests. The larger the area we can sense afterwards, the more accurate information we will get about what is actually happening up there. The aim is to monitor the entire function of the wing, but we have still a long way to go,” details Dr. Miroslav Mrlík.

If the tests go well, the specially developed polymer film could be used on any part of the aircraft: in addition to wings, it could also be applied to the landing gear flaps, the engine structure as such and the engine turbine, i.e. the parts that are most affected by vibrations during flight.

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