Tech Briefs Magazine - February 2023 - 40

APPLICATION
BRIEFS
Inflatable Space Habitats Use Sensors Embedded in Webbing
for Structural Health Monitoring
Bally Ribbon Mills
Bally, PA
www.ballyribbon.com
Luna Innovations, Inc.
Ronaoke, VA
www.lunainc.com
F
uture human space exploration requires a safe living environment
for astronauts. A robust structural health monitoring
(SHM) process is imperative to ensure equipment safety,
particularly for the inflatable habitat structures that are the
Woven carriers are critical in applications that experience high strain. (Image:
Bally Ribbon Mills)
most cost-efficient solution to the astronauts' living space
needs. A novel approach is moving away from conventional
SHM testing methods in favor of using sensors embedded in
the flexible structural restraint webbing layers. The sensors can
collect data on stress, strain, creep, and impacts of micro meteorites
throughout the inflatable habitat's lifecycle. The embedded
fiber optic sensors were woven into VECTRAN™ (trademark
of KURARAY CO., LTD) webbing and later integrated
into an inflatable test article that was tested at NASA Johnson
Space Center for potential use in future inflatable habitat structures
for NASA Lunar Gateway and Mars missions.1
In 2007, Bally Ribbon Mills (BRM) began working with Luna
Innovations, Inc., an American developer and manufacturer
of fiber-optics- and terahertz-based technology products
for aerospace. Luna's NASA contact suggested the partnership
to provide a demonstration sample to show the capabilities
of Luna's technology, which focuses on integrating
high-definition fiber optic sensors (HD-FOS) into a three-dimensional
woven carbon structure used in composites. The
project was undertaken as part of the Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) program, a competitive awards-based
research and development program that helps small businesses
explore their technological potential and provides
the incentive to profit from its commercialization.2
The project aimed to demonstrate the integration of optical-fiber
sensing technology into composites to monitor the
vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process.
The team designed a composite cantilever beam with 3D carbon
fiber reinforcement that was fabricated with embedded
optical-sensing fibers. BRM wove the carbon fiber preform
with warp, fill, and Z-axis reinforcing fiber. During the preform
weaving process, BRM added optical fiber bobbins to
the weaving loom and determined the necessary processes to
integrate fiber optic strain sensors into the weave.
BRM successfully wove the material and passed it along to
Luna. Fifteen years later, Luna came back to collaborate
with BRM on a NASA multi-phase grant award examining
whether the embedded sensor technology could survive all
the required manufacturing processes for use in inflatable
habitat structures being developed for upcoming space missions.
During this phase, the focus is on integrating fiber
optic sensors into Vectran webbing for inflatable space habitat
SHM. The approach uses sensors to capture data
throughout an object's lifecycle.
The data collected from " smart webbing " could be used for
many applications:
* Optimizing process control by using data to increase quality,
efficiency, and effectiveness.
Embedded sensors for structural health monitoring of inflatable space
habitats. (Image: Luna Innovations, Inc.)
40
* Centralizing reporting by characterizing operational norms,
preventing false alarms, and gaining the ability to access information
from anywhere.
www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs, February 2023
http://www.ballyribbon.com http://www.lunainc.com http://www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs Magazine - February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - February 2023
