Development of robust structural health monitoring (SHM) sensors and hardware alone is not sufficient to achieve desired benefits such as improved asset availability and reduced sustainment costs. For SHM systems to be practically deployed as part of an integrated system health management (ISHM), tools must be created for SHM life-cycle management (LCM). To that end, SHM-LCM software has been developed to expedite the adoption of SHM into ISHM. The SHM-LCM software is a flexible application intended to manage the cradle-to-grave life-cycle of an SHM system for generic applications.

Composites present additional challenges for inspection due to their heterogeneity and anisotropy, and since damage often occurs beneath their surface. Currently successful laboratory non-destructive methods, such as X-ray and C-scans, are impractical for inspection of large integrated structures. It is clear that new approaches for inspection of composites need to be developed. During the present research, multiple carbon nanotube (CNT) based NDE & SHM techniques were investigated to resolve these issues.

The integration of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems into in-service applications has been hindered by the implied infrastructure, specifically wires for power and data from each sensor an acquisition and/or processing unit. Prior research by the present investigators has demonstrated a patented method of point-of-measurement datalogging for SHM, thereby greatly reducing the required quantity of cable by locally converting analog signals into digital data that can be placed on a common sensor-bus.