Remote tension measurement system

A method for monitoring structural health of a membrane formed structure, said method comprising the steps of:

• initializing a plurality of baseline values including a spacing distance and a known mass of the membrane formed structure;
• determining a plurality of measurement points based on the spacing distance and the known mass;
• defining a measurement region of the membrane-formed structure with the plurality of measurement points;
• detecting a propagation event for a transverse wave along the measurement region;
• determining a propagation speed for the transverse wave;
• and
• determining a tension for the measurement region based on the propagation speed;
• wherein said step of determining the plurality of measurement points defining the measurement region further comprises determining a line array of at least three of the measurement points positioned along an imaginary line at the spacing distance and wherein said step of determining the propagation speed further comprises determining the propagation speed for the transverse wave based on a k−ω plot acoustic cone.

A method for monitoring structural health of a membrane formed structure, said method comprising the steps of:

• initializing a plurality of baseline values including a spacing distance and a known mass of the membrane formed structure;
• determining a plurality of measurement points based on the spacing distance and the known mass;
• defining a measurement region of the membrane-formed structure with the plurality of measurement points;
• detecting a propagation event for a transverse wave along the measurement region;
• determining a propagation speed for the transverse wave;
• and
• determining a tension for the measurement region based on the propagation speed;
• wherein said step of determining the plurality of measurement points defining the measurement region further comprises determining a Mills Cross array of at least a first three of the measurement points positioned along a first imaginary line and at least a second three of the measurement points positioned along a second imaginary line at the spacing distance and wherein said step of determining the propagation speed further comprises determining, for the transverse wave propagating along a displacement angle “α” to the first imaginary line and along a displacement angle “π/2−α” to the second imaginary line, the propagation speed for the transverse wave using c/cos α with respect to the first imaginary line and c/sin α with respect to the second imaginary line wherein “c” is the propagation speed.

A method for monitoring structural health of a membrane formed structure, said method comprising the steps of:

• initializing a plurality of baseline values including a spacing distance and a known mass of the membrane formed structure;
• determining a plurality of measurement points based on the spacing distance and the known mass;
• defining a measurement region of the membrane-formed structure with the plurality of measurement points;
• detecting a propagation event for a transverse wave along the measurement region;
• determining a propagation speed for the transverse wave;
• and
• determining a tension for the measurement region based on the propagation speed;
• wherein said step of determining the tension for the measurement region based on the propagation speed further comprises determining the tension for the measurement region in water using c=√Tμ+μa where “μa” is the added mass per unit area due to the surrounding water and the value of μa depends on the shape of the membrane-formed structure.

A computer-implemented method monitoring structural health of a membrane-formed structure using at least one processor configured with executable instructions to perform the steps of:

• initializing a plurality of baseline values including a spacing distance and a known mass of the membrane formed structure;
• determining a plurality of measurement points based on the spacing distance and the known mass to define a measurement region of the membrane-formed structure;
• detecting, using a non-invasive sensor, a propagation event for a transverse wave along the measurement region;
• determining a propagation speed for the transverse wave;
• determining a tension for the measurement region based on the propagation speed;
• wherein said step of determining the propagation speed further comprises determining a first time delay for the transverse wave propagating between a pair of the measurement points along a displacement perpendicular to the imaginary line;
• determining the propagation speed for the transverse wave based on the first time delay and the spacing distance;
• determining a second time delay for the transverse wave propagating between the pair of the measurement points along a displacement angle “α” to the imaginary line;
• and
• determining the propagation speed for the transverse wavebased on the second time delay and using c/cos α wherein “c” is the propagation speed and 0<α<π/2.

A computer-implemented method monitoring structural health of a membrane-formed structure using at least one processor configured with executable instructions to perform the steps of:

• initializing a plurality of baseline values including a spacing distance and a known mass of the membrane formed structure;
• determining a plurality of measurement points based on the spacing distance and the known mass to define a measurement region of the membrane-formed structure;
• detecting, using a non-invasive sensor, a propagation event for a transverse wave along the measurement region;
• determining a propagation speed for the transverse wave;
• determining a tension for the measurement region based on the propagation speed;
• wherein said step of determining the plurality of measurement points defining the measurement region, further comprises determining a Mills Cross array of at least a first three of the measurement points positioned along a first imaginary line and of at least a second three of the measurement points positioned along a second imaginary line at the spacing distance;
• wherein said step of determining the propagation speed further comprises determining for the transverse wave propagating along a displacement angle “α” to the first imaginary line and along a displacement angle “π/2−α” to the second imaginary line;
• and
• determining the propagation speed for the transverse wave using c/cos α with respect to the first imaginary line and c/sin α with respect to the second imaginary line wherein “c” is the propagation speed.

A remote tension measurement system, comprising:

• a non-invasive sensor;
• and
• at least one processor configured to initialize a plurality of baseline values with a spacing distance and a known mass of a membrane-formed structure, to determine a plurality of measurement points based on the spacing distance and the known mass to define a measurement region of the membrane-formed structure, to detect a propagation event with said sensor for a transverse wave along the measurement region, to determine a propagation speed for the transverse wave, and to determine a tension for the measurement region based on the propagation speed;
• wherein said at least one processor is further configured to determine a Mills Cross array of at least a first three of the measurement points positioned along a first imaginary line and of at least a second three of the measurement points positioned along a second imaginary line at the spacing distance;
• and
• wherein said at least one processor is further configured to determine the propagation speed for the transverse wave propagating along a displacement angle “α” to the first imaginary line and along a displacement angle “π/2−α” to the second imaginary line using “c/cos α” m with respect to the first imaginary line and “c/sin α” with respect to the second imaginary line wherein “c” is the propagation speed.