Self-powered health monitoring of railway infrastructure Industrially sponsored by NetworkRail

The project

The ambition of the project is to produce a self-charging sensor that monitor the structural health of a railway points and report changes to the health of the points in real time. At a threshold level of change the report from the sensor will change from green, to amber indicating that an in-person inspection is needed, before changing to red. The final nature of the solution will depend on a number of factors. These include the vibrational energy available to charge the sensor, the nature of the acoustic signal and mathematical approaches to learn steady state and determine if there are any changes. The project is funded by Network Rail and as such there is expected to be significant industry steer and interaction in during the course of the project.

Background

Piezoelectric materials are a class of materials that produce a voltage when they are mechanically deformed and have found a large number of commercial applications. In addition to the mass-produced commercial applications of piezoelectric materials they have been applied for structural health monitoring by measuring acoustic signatures. Examples of these applications range from monitoring bridges to liquid storage vessels. A recent addition to the power of using piezoelectric materials to monitor health is to use a genetic algorithm to learn a steady state signal and then report any changes. A more nuanced network of sensors can be developed that can feed into an artificial neural network enabling the location of a change in signal to be highlighted. It is also possible to use the piezoelectric material to power the device producing a self-powered system.

Supervisory Team

Professor Steve Dunn has a track record that includes previous projects investigating sensors to analyse the wear of helicopter gear boxes by monitoring changes in vibration patterns, self-powered systems and materials development for energy harvesting. Dr Sevan Harput is an early career academic with significant experience in signal processing and leads the Ultrasound Research Laboratory. This purpose of this laboratory is to develop new imaging and sensing technologies using acoustic waves at ultrasonic frequencies. Of particular importance here are the skills in the area signal processing and ultrasound sensor modelling and development. The LSBU academic team is supported with extensive laboratory facilities in which to perform the development of any appropriate technology.

Prof Steve Dunn has supervised over 25 successful PhD projects. As a PhD student, you will join the London Centre for Energy Engineering and work alongside a range of new and experienced PhD students in a collaborative environment. Informal enquiries should be directed to Steve (dunns4@lsbu.ac.uk) Please send a copy of your CV with a covering letter directly to Steve before applying.

Requirements

Applicants must have (or be expected to gain) a first class or an upper second-class Honours degree (or the international equivalent), or an MSc. Enthusiastic and self-motivated candidates from all countries with a background in Engineering, Material Science, Chemistry or a related discipline are encouraged to apply. A strong interest in laboratory working would be advantageous.

Stipend

This PhD is a School of Engineering Bursary covering fees and a £18k stipend per annum for three years. As part of the candidate’s academic development, the bursary agreement includes that the successful PhD candidate engages in 4 hours per week student contact time, comprising lab class assistance and extracurricular activity development. If you have any informal query, please email the supervision team directly. We encourage applications from underrepresented groups.