Industrial Age NDE to Information Age SHM

Abstract

The United States Air Force (USAF) is transforming its maintenance practices from the Industrial Age to the Information Age by exploiting opportunities and benefits offered by Information Age technology and techniques. The USAF currently manages its aircraft using a schedule-based maintenance philosophy. This schedule-based approach works well for ensuring aircraft integrity; however, it is very costly, labor-intensive, and reduces aircraft availability. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems have the potential to analyze near-real-time and historical weapon systems data to provide a predictive maintenance capability. However, most research in SHM is focused on in-situ structural inspection techniques instead of structural monitoring. Structural inspections typically entail examining key locations of the airframe for material degradation or flaws. These examinations usually occur at predefined intervals between extended periods of time with each inspection considered an independent evaluation. Conversely, structural monitoring involves continuous condition surveillance of an airframe over an extended period of time. It uses past conditions and expected future conditions for producing a comprehensive understanding of the current health state. In this paper, the full potential impact SHM could have on airframe management is examined. As demonstrated in a laboratory experiment, SHM has the potential to improve effectiveness and efficiency metrics compared to the current USAF maintenance procedures.