*********************************
There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
*********************************
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Ph.D. Thesis Defense Announcement
Passive Antenna Sensor Design through Multi-Physics Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization
By
Chunhee Cho
Advisor:
Dr. Yang Wang (CEE)
Committee Members:
Dr. Phanish Suryanarayana (CEE), Dr. Ying Zhang (ECE), Dr. Manos M. Tentzeris (ECE),
and Dr. Xiaohua Yi (Exxon Mobile Corp.)
Date & Time: Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016, at 11:00am
Location: Jesse W. Mason Conference Room 2119
Abstract
This dissertation develops passive (battery-free) wireless strain sensing techniques for low-cost structural health monitoring (SHM). Passive wireless strain sensing has obvious advantages among SHM technologies in that the sensors require neither cable nor external power supply for operation. However, current numerical approaches for modeling and designing passive antenna sensors are oftentimes inefficient and inaccurate. In this study, a partially air-filled cavity modeling and an inverse power iteration method with Rayleigh quotient (IPIRQ) are proposed to significantly improve computational speed of strain sensing simulation. Optimization frameworks are proposed for identifying accurate mechanical and electromagnetic parameter values of an antenna sensor through finite element model updating using experimental measurements. In addition, a multi-objective optimization approach is formulated to maximize sensor performance such as strain sensitivity and antenna gain. Finally, in order to overcome the limit of radiofrequency identification (RFID) antenna sensors, a frequency doubling technology is investigated. To achieve close deployment of multiple frequency doubling antenna sensors, a wireless switching mechanism is designed and implemented. Performance of the frequency doubling antenna sensors with wireless switching is experiment