ENERGY SCAVENGING BASED ON TRANSIENT THERMAL GRADIENTS: APPLICATION TO STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF AIRCRAFTS

Nicolas Bailly (1) , Jean-Marie Dilhac (1) , Christophe Escriba (1) , Claude Vanhecke (2) , Nicolas Mauran (1) , Marise Bafleur (1)

1 LAAS - Laboratoire d'analyse et d'architecture des systèmes
2 TAS - ThalesAlenia Space

Results about energy capture from the environment associated with the self-powering of a wireless sensor network (WSN) for structural health monitoring of aircrafts (SHM) are presented. Thermal gradients taking place during specific flight phases are converted into electrical energy by using a small water tank coupled to a thermoelectric generator which output is connected to a storage circuit. The proposed system is experimentally assessed in an environmental chamber. Regarding the energy storage issue, considering the operating temperature (-55°C) and the amount of energy, supercapacitors are suggested instead of batteries. For capacitors charging and later use of energy, a circuit based on a voltage booster associated with a DC-DC regulator is designed and simulated.

Mots clés: energy scavenging; thermoelectric generator; voltage booster; aircraft structural health monitoring

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

Nicolas Bailly, Jean-Marie Dilhac, Christophe Escriba, Claude Vanhecke, Nicolas Mauran, et al.. ENERGY SCAVENGING BASED ON TRANSIENT THERMAL GRADIENTS: APPLICATION TO STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF AIRCRAFTS. 8th International Workshop on Micro and Nanotechnology for Power Generation and Energy Conversion Applications (PowerMEMS 2008), Nov 2008, SENDAI, Japan. pp.205-208. ⟨hal-00384129⟩