Software for determining the condition of lattice structures was developed at NSTU-NETI

Engineers at NSTU-NETI have launched software to determine the condition of lattice structures, an example of which are intermediate supports of overhead power lines (overhead lines). The program, developed by the team of the Faculty of Aircraft together with the staff of the Faculty of Automation and Computer Engineering, is based on an experimentally determined natural oscillation frequency and shows which group of states each design corresponds to.

Diagnostics is carried out using special "LAPTON-1" sensors developed at the university, which are fixed to the waist corners of the lattice structure using magnets. The sensors transmit a large amount of data to the smartphone, the program processes it and outputs the measurement result in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. The entire operation takes a few minutes, while the number of measurements for one support reaches four. The number of structures in one power transmission line can reach up to several hundred, which required an automated approach to processing experimental data — the development of a software product.

According to Alexey Kozhevnikov, Associate Professor of the Department of Aircraft Strength at NSTU-NETI, Candidate of Technical Sciences, the program was tested this spring with the participation of employees of the Siberian Scientific Research Institute of Aviation named after S. A. Chaplygin. "The software is useful not only for instrumental examination of pillars in the energy sector. It will also help determine the condition of any buildings, structures, and even unique structures that include architectural monuments," said Alexey Kozhevnikov.

Earlier, NSTU-NETI created a program to classify power transmission poles into groups based on the degree of wear. The development, which has no domestic analogues, automatically allows structures to be ranked into categories for more efficient cost planning for maintenance and repair.