ScienceDaily (Sep. 19, 2012) — In August 2007, the I-35W Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The collapse was attributed to a design deficiency that resulted in a gusset plate failing during ongoing construction work.
Now, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Delaware is developing a novel structural health monitoring system that could avert such disasters in the future. Erik Thostenson and Thomas Schumacher, both affiliated faculty members in the UD Center for Composite Materials, have received a three-year $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate the use of carbon nanotube composites as a kind of “smart skin” for structures.
Thostenson (left) and Thomas Schumacher in UD’s Center for Composite Materials have received a three-year $300,000 grant to investigate the use of carbon nanotube-based sensing composites for structural health monitoring of civil infrastructure. (Credit: Evan Krape/University of Delaware)
Talking about “Skin” ….
Have a look to our “Sensing Skin” article in ACS / Applied Materials & Interfaces