Research

Research Projects

Next-Generation Non-Destructive Evaluation (NextNDE) for Complex Structures

• Status: Ongoing
• Collaborative partner: Los Alamos National Laboratory

This Research work develops a next-generation NDE framework (NextNDE) for rapid and accurate damage diagnosis in large, complex structures using sparse acoustic sensor networks and artificial intelligence. Traditional guided-wave approaches struggle with structural complexity (welds, stiffeners, flanges, and geometric discontinuities). This research addresses those challenges by integrating physics-informed deep learning with acoustic sensing.

Key Contributions

• Sparse sensor network design for large-area inspection
• Deep learning models for damage localization and severity estimation
• Transfer learning to address limited training data
• Demonstration on complex structural geometries

Impact

• Enables global inspection at a fraction of the cost of traditional scanning
• Reduces inspection time from hours to minutes
• Strong potential for technology transition and commercialization