MOSAIC

Monitoring, Scanning and Active Inspection of High Voltage Cables

Objectives

There are over 29,000km of high voltage overhead transmission cables in the UK, operating in severe conditions of heat and cold, moisture, voltage stress, wind induced vibration, overloads and structural fatigue, all of which can cause catastrophic failure. The MOSAIC project aims to develop a novel method of combined monitoring and enhancement of the structural health of these cables, more technically and cost effective, and safer than existing monitoring techniques i.e. infrared and visual inspection which require helicopter use.

Benefits

The MOSAIC technology will enable permanent and real time monitoring of high voltage cables by:

• Measuring vibrations, which are a major cause of cable fatigue, by actively reducing them through automatic electromechanical means;
• actively detecting early signs of cable fatigue and track its growth using ultrasonic guided waves, which can inspect areas inaccessible with infrared and visual inspection;
• wirelessly transmitting essential data to a base station, enabling instant maintenance decision making.

The MOSAIC system will prevent hazardous inspection practices and will reduce pollution caused by helicopters required for remote infrared imaging or visual inspection.

 Project Partners

This project was co-funded by the UK's innovation agency, Innovate UK.                                     

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