Structural Integrity Prognosis System Demonstration and Transition

Abstract

,The structural integrity of aircraft has become a critical issue in ensuring the combat readiness of aging aircraft and in the need for more efficient use and maintenance of vital assets. In order to address this need, a science-based approach was taken to develop the Structural Integrity Prognosis System (SIPS). Based on collaboration between detailed models of fatigue damage, sensor systems, and a unique reasoning system, SIPS provides probabilistic predictions of structural viability for individual assets under user-specified future use scenarios. After an extensive development program involving hundreds of laboratory experiments and three full-scale tests of retired aircraft wing panels, the SIPS Program has entered the transition stage where its utility is being evaluated on active vehicles in the Navy fleet. Under joint funding with the Navy, an operational P-3 Orion based at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, was designated to be the first aircraft to demonstrate the cutting edge technology. The flight demonstration has been underway since September 2008 and was scheduled to end in the summer of 2009 with a major wing overhaul and teardown analysis of the relevant fatigue critical areas. After the first 10 months, the Navy chose to continue to fly the aircraft with structural predictions from SIPS for an additional year beyond its planned overhaul date. Plans are also being made to deploy SIPS on at least two additional Navy vehicles. This paper discusses the motivation, operational vision, and results thus far using SIPS with an onboard crack detection system to extract the full capability of the aging Navy fleet.