‘Mood Ring Substances’ – A Novel Way to Identify Damages in Failing Infrastructure

A vital element in any modernization attempt will be the enhancement of novel and enhanced methods for identifying damage in such structures before it becomes crucial. That is where ‘mood ring substances’ comes in. Sprinkle a pixie dust of nanoparticles into a group of clear polymer resin and you obtain ‘a smart substance that alters colour when it is damaged or about to fail, what is known as ‘mood ring substance’,” explains Cole Brubaker, a doctoral student in civil engineering who is also a part of an interdisciplinary scientific group at Vanderbilt University’s Laboratory for Systems Integrity and Reliability (LASIR) introducing the novel sensing system.

The intelligent sensing technologies are one of the finest novel fields in mechanical, civil and aerospace engineering. Such attempts have typically focused on introducing networks of physical sensors that are linked to structures of interest. But, such approach has been constrained by excessive cost as well as data processing and power requirements.

The scientists of LASIR are taking a distinct by integrating fluorescent nanoparticles into the substance itself that reacts to stress by altering their optical features in order to prepare a novel sort of detection system that can supervise such structures in an effective and cost – efficient fashion.

“Presently, there are two methods to keep everything from aircraft to bridges safe,” says LASIR Director, Douglas Adams, Daniel F. Flowers Lecturer of the Environmental and Civil engineering. “One way is to transmit people out of the look at them with a flashlight. The issue with this is that it is labour – intensive and the individual cannot view very tiny cracks when they occur. The other is to incorporate cracks and identify them before they expand too large. The issue is that such networks are costly and in this situation, add weight. So we need to alter the materials we are utilizing so they illuminate such small cracks.”

The Vanderbilt team is not the only scientific group utilizing nanoparticles to prepare smart substances, but they have a special advantage. They are employing a specific sort of nanoparticle known as white quantum dot. Such quantum dots are specific as they release white light where other quantum dots only release light at particular wavelengths. The LASIR team have realized that there is a trouble that they need to solve to create a practical identification system. The quantum dots travel from photo – bleaching.

Conclusion

“There is a lot we possess to learn before we can prepare a smart substance that is ideal for real world applications, but all the signs are positive,” says Adam. “Some of our commercial linkups are interested so there is a good opportunity that it will be adopted if it performs the way we think it will.”