[3A1] Airframe structural health monitoring for damage detection and damage monitoring
K Atherton¹ and A Rautureau²
¹Airbus Operations UK Ltd, UK
²Airbus Operations SAS, France
Airbus Commercial aims to reduce the costs of in-service airframe maintenance operations for civil aircraft operators for both legacy and next-generation aircraft, whilst maintaining safety. The approach is to reduce unplanned maintenance, optimise planned maintenance and efficient maintenance execution. Airframe maintenance includes scheduled inspections, for fatigue and corrosion damage, and unscheduled inspections, for accidental damage such as impacts. A variety of techniques are used from visual inspection, to ultrasonic and eddy current rotor testing. Structural health monitoring is being developed at Airbus to reduce the time and costs for these in-service inspections and move towards condition-based maintenance.
For metallic crack inspections, permanently installed sensors could significantly reduce the inspection time, especially where access to the area is difficult. An ultrasonic sensor has been developed for a use case where regular inspection is required and access for the inspection is difficult. The sensor would be interrogated on the ground. A key point is the sensor durability for long-term operation in a harsh operational environment. This presentation will discuss the development of structural health monitoring (SHM) at Airbus, including the general requirements and blockers for SHM implementation in civil aviation and sensor development for this specific use case.
For metallic crack inspections, permanently installed sensors could significantly reduce the inspection time, especially where access to the area is difficult. An ultrasonic sensor has been developed for a use case where regular inspection is required and access for the inspection is difficult. The sensor would be interrogated on the ground. A key point is the sensor durability for long-term operation in a harsh operational environment. This presentation will discuss the development of structural health monitoring (SHM) at Airbus, including the general requirements and blockers for SHM implementation in civil aviation and sensor development for this specific use case.
