TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA-261 - Health and Usage Monitoring; PMA-275 - V-22 Program; PMA-276

OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative system for tracking the structural life of rotary wing dynamic components in support of condition based maintenance (CBM) and unique identification (UID) mandates.

DESCRIPTION: To extend the life of today�s rotary wing aircraft, dynamic component removal, refurbishment and replacement must be optimized. To accomplish this, an accurate and up-to-date system must be developed to establish the current and past history of each fatigue critical aircraft component. With the fleet-wide deployment of Health and Usage Monitoring (HUMS) aircraft flight data recording systems, complete ground-air-ground flight data is now known throughout the life of the aircraft. This data coupled with an appropriate innovative fatigue life tracking algorithm and novel data management system, can provide the fleet with individual component fatigue life monitoring. As components move from aircraft-to-aircraft the fatigue life can follow the component by storing it on a component-specific sensor. Once developed, maintenance credits for dynamic components can be given and premature retirement due to unknown aircraft usage history can be eliminated.

The end goal for this topic is a innovative and flexible management tool that engineers can use to quickly assess the life of individual aircraft components in the fleet. The tool should include the following components: design of an innovative fatigue life tracking algorithm, a novel data management system, and component specific sensor for storing the data. As part of this effort, evaluate current state of the art component sensor technology for applicability in an aircraft environment. Since HUMS systems and capabilities differ between aircraft platforms, the system should have an open, adaptable architecture. The tool should leverage as much actual aircraft usage and load data as possible to minimize conservatism required in the fatigue life determinations, but since data is inevitably lost, gap filling methods should be included. Consideration should also be given to the fact that these components could move between aircraft.

PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of using novel concepts for calculating individual component fatigue damage using HUMS data. Develop a proof-of-concept plan for tracking the structural life of individual aircraft dynamic components. Evaluate existing Navy data management systems to determine their feasibility and practicality of interfacing between systems. Define initial fatigue life tracking algorithm and database architecture.

PHASE II: Develop a prototype of the fatigue life tracking algorithm and data management system and demonstrate the capability of the system. Collect data from an instrumented prototype rotary wing aircraft and integrate the data with the flight by flight data from the aircraft�s flight data recording system. Demonstrate that the algorithms developed track the dynamic component fatigue damage accumulated on a flight by flight basis. Convert the fatigue damage data into fatigue life data and store it within the component sensor.

PHASE III: Refine development based on knowledge gained in Phase II. Develop the complete flexible management tool package with a users manual, and the hardware and software for the system to be integrated into one or multiple US Navy platforms.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: This software tracking system will have broad application in both the commercial and military industry where life limited components are used.

REFERENCES:
1. Maley, S., Plets, J., Phan, N.D., "US Navy Roadmap to Structural Health and Usage Monitoring � The Present and Future" Presented at the American Helicopter Society 63rd Annual Forum, Virginia Beach, VA, May 1-3, 2007 www.vtol.org

2. DFARS 211.274: Item Identification and Valuation; http://farsite.hill.af.mil/reghtml/regs/far2afmcfars/fardfars/dfars/dfars211.htm

3. Condition Based Maintenance (CBM+): DoD Acquisition Community Connection: https://acc.dau.mil/CommunityBrowser.aspx?id=32444

4. Barndt G., Moon, S., "Development of a Fatigue Tracking Program for Navy Rotary Wing Aircraft" Presented at the American Helicopter Society 50th Annual Forum, Washington DC, May 1994 www.vtol.org

KEYWORDS: Aircraft; Rotary Wing; Fatigue; Inspection; Structures; Component; Software; Hardware; Sensor

TPOC: (301)757-5531
2nd TPOC: (301)342-8511

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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