Strain/impending failure detectors

[jonr]

I'm interested in the strain monitors that the America's Cup boat was reported to have. Is this something that is affordable and practical for normal boats? I would see applications for hulls, lines, sails, masts.

I've pounded into some big waves - but no idea if I was close to breaking something. Would be nice to know and slow down accordingly.

[Tim B]

I had thought of doing the same thing (albeit on a smaller scale). There are plenty of load-cells around (just google for them), but you will then need an amplifier and a display mechanism. The amplifier is not difficult to build, but it does need to be done carefully to get the best results.

for the display system, I would suggest using OpenPilot (yes, I know I'm biased), as it has an Analogue to Digital converter widget, which currently supports an 8 channel 12-bit ADC (MAX186 chip if you're interested), connected to the parallel port. Further support can be added for your project (you may want more precision, or more channels). The ADC Widget can connect to a logger, gauge and graph widget.

Hope this helps,

Tim B.

[jonr]

I suppose one has to do some destructive testing to calibrate it to % of failure stress in the case of complex laminates? Something like a cable or line sounds simple.