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A wide variety of scientific aims have been formulated for future explorations of space and planets. In order to achieve these aims, a need for robotic systems and mission set-ups with increasing complexity arises. The H2020 EU-funded project SIROM (Standard Interface for Robotic Manipulation of Payloads in Future Space Missions), aims to realize an integrated interface for mechanical, data, electrical and thermal connectivity that allows a reliable, robust and multi-functional coupling. The present paper reports an overview of classifications of power, data and mechanical interfaces and thermal transfer methods in current robotic and space applications. Eventually, the paper presents ideas for innovation and development of standard multi-functional interface with the most promising developments expected in the next few years.

The present work aims for investigate the influence of electrospun Nylon 6,6 nanofibrous mat on the behavior of composite laminates. The main idea is that nanofibrous interleaved into particular ply-to-ply interfaces of a laminate can lead to significant improvements of mechanical properties and delamination/damage resistance. Experimental campaigns were performed to investigate how nanofibers affect both the static and dynamic behavior of the laminate in which they are interleaved. Fracture mechanics tests were initially performed on virgin and 8 different configuration of nanomodified specimens. The purposes of this first step of the work are to understand which geometrical parameters of the nanointerleave influence the behavior of the laminate and, to find the optimal architecture of the nanofibrous mat in order to obtain the best reinforcement. In particular, 3 morphological parameters are investigated: nanofibers diameter, nanofibers orientation and thickness of the reinforce. Two different values for each parameter have been used, and it leads to 8 different configurations of nanoreinforce. Acoustic Emission technique is also used to monitor the tests. Once the optimum configuration has been found, attention is focused on the mechanism of reinforce played by the nanofibers during static and dynamic tests. Low velocity impacts and free decay tests are performed to attest the effect of nanointerlayers and the reinforce mechanism during the dynamic loads. Bump tests are performed before and after the impact on virgin and two different nanomodified laminates configurations. The authors focused their attention on: vibrational behavior, low velocity impact response and post-impact vibration behavior of the nano-interleaved laminates with respect to the response of non-nanomodified ones. Experiments attest that nanofibers significantly strength the delamination resistance of the laminates and increase some mechanical properties. It is demonstrated that the nanofibers are capable to continue to carry on the loads even when the matrix around them is broken.

The focus of this work is to investigate the delamination damage in laminate composite beams, to fix a Vibration-based structural health monitoring (VSHM) method for the laminate structures. The analysis is concentrated on the vibration characteristics of the samples and, in particular, the attention is addressed on the first several natural frequencies of a composite laminate beam with a delamination damage. The core of this work is an experimental investigation on the vibration response of a composite laminate beam and its changes caused by delaminations with different sizes and in different locations of the beam. The study is divided in 3 sections: delamination detection, delamination localization, and delamination estimate. The aim is to determine how the first six harmonics frequencies change due to the delamination, and the results show that they can be successfully used to investigate the presence, the location and the dimensions of the delamination in a composite beam. A Pattern Recognition analysis is used to locate the damage, while the detection and the evaluation are done using the changes in the harmonic frequencies. A finite element analysis is performed, and the variations of the natural frequencies due to delamination are in good agreement with the experimental results.

This work presents a Vibration-Based Structural Health Monitoring (VSHM) technique which is developed and applied for delamination assessment in composite laminate structures. It suggests the mutual information as a measure for nonlinear signal cross correlation. The mutual information between two signals measured on a vibrating structure is suggested as a damage metric and its application for the purposes of damage assessment is discussed and compared to the application of the traditional linear signal cross-correlation. The cross correlation is capable to detect linear dependence between two signals and thus can be used for diagnosing damage on linearly vibrating structures. On the other hand the mutual information is a nonlinear metric, and it is shown that it can detect linear as well as nonlinear signal dependence and thus it is particularly appropriate for structures with nonlinear dynamic behavior and for composite structures as such. The application of the mutual information as a damage metric is demonstrated and discussed first for the case of a simple 2 DOF system with a nonlinear stiffness. Eventually the application of the suggested damage metric is developed and demonstrated for the purposes of delamination diagnosis in a composite laminate beam. © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

This paper presents an experimental investigation on specimens manufactured by Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), with the purposes of giving designers advice when designing 3D printed parts, and laying the basis for a step forward in the field of fracture mechanics of 3D complex parts. The aim is to investigate the effect of building direction in Polyamide (PA) 3D printed samples and to assess whether a crack can be initiated directly from the sintering process for fracture mechanics study purposes. Six different configurations of Mode I Compact Tension (CT) specimens were manufactured and tested; the experiments were monitored by Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and fractured surfaces were analyzed using microscopy. Results showed that samples with better mechanical performance are those in which all the layers contain a portion of the crack. On the other hand, those with layers parallel to the crack plan offer a preferential pathway for the crack to propagate. DIC and fractography investigations showed that, under certain conditions, small-radius geometries, or too-close surfaces may bond together depending on printer resolution. Experiments also showed that SLS is capable of printing specimens with internal cracks that can be used to study fracture mechanics of complex parts or parts with internal cracks.