5:15 PM - 7:15 PM
[SVC31-P07] Preliminary experiments on the effects of volcanic ash on various equipment.
Keywords:Volcanic disaster mitigation, Volcanic Ash, communication equipment
The author has been verifying the effects of volcanic ash on personal computer equipment and building facilities using a simple experimental apparatus. In this study, we conducted preliminary experiments on the effects of the same method on solar panels, Bluetooth 5.0, and mini-drones. The volcanic ash used was volcanic ash collected from Sakurajima and sieved to less than 250 μm. Since an indicator of volcanic ash impact is generally considered to be based on the thickness of the ash deposited on the ground surface, this study conducted an experiment in which the thickness of the ash deposited was simply converted into weight using the apparent density of the volcanic ash at Sakurajima, which was measured by Kubo and Yoshimoto (2024) and is less than 250 μm in diameter.
In an experiment on solar panels, the current was reduced by about 70% at an ash fall depth of about 0.01 cm, and by about 97% at 0.05 cm
Next, the mini-drone was placed in the experimental aircraft and operated while ash fell from the top until the depth of ash fall was about 0.01 to 0.1 cm, but the aircraft was able to continue flying.
Bluetooth was verified by using Witmotion's accelerometer to measure RSSI values on a Laptop PC at a distance of approximately 1 meter. In addition to volcanic ash, verification was also performed with volcanic lapillus, water and snow. The results showed a significant decrease in RSSI values in water and a slight decrease in volcanic ash, scoria, and snow.
As a verification experiment for another occasion, we stacked the antennas of the Starlink so that the ash fall depth was 0.05 cm and sprayed them with more water, but the PC used via the Starlink was able to transmit data without any interruption in communication. However, parabolic type antennas were affected.
Therefore, it was found that some communication devices are affected by volcanic ash and others are not.
Since this experiment was conducted under simple conditions, it remains to be verified whether the same is true for large-scale ashfall.
Kubo and Yoshimoto (2024):Measurement of Volcanic Ash Characteristics for Engineering Usage, AIJ Summaries of technical papers of annual meeting, 20032, 63-64(in Japanese)
In an experiment on solar panels, the current was reduced by about 70% at an ash fall depth of about 0.01 cm, and by about 97% at 0.05 cm
Next, the mini-drone was placed in the experimental aircraft and operated while ash fell from the top until the depth of ash fall was about 0.01 to 0.1 cm, but the aircraft was able to continue flying.
Bluetooth was verified by using Witmotion's accelerometer to measure RSSI values on a Laptop PC at a distance of approximately 1 meter. In addition to volcanic ash, verification was also performed with volcanic lapillus, water and snow. The results showed a significant decrease in RSSI values in water and a slight decrease in volcanic ash, scoria, and snow.
As a verification experiment for another occasion, we stacked the antennas of the Starlink so that the ash fall depth was 0.05 cm and sprayed them with more water, but the PC used via the Starlink was able to transmit data without any interruption in communication. However, parabolic type antennas were affected.
Therefore, it was found that some communication devices are affected by volcanic ash and others are not.
Since this experiment was conducted under simple conditions, it remains to be verified whether the same is true for large-scale ashfall.
Kubo and Yoshimoto (2024):Measurement of Volcanic Ash Characteristics for Engineering Usage, AIJ Summaries of technical papers of annual meeting, 20032, 63-64(in Japanese)