Portable Active Damage Inspection (PADI) system for stress-corrosion cracks in aerospace structures

Safety, reliability, and life-cycle cost are of great concern to the aging aircraft manufacturing and maintenance industries. Current maintenance and inspection techniques for in-service structures are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Acellent Technologies proposes to develop an accurate, reliable integrated system for detection, prediction and mitigation of aging and manufacturing related hazards in civilian and military aircraft. The objective of the proposed program will be to provide the U.S. Air Force with a Portable Active Damage Inspection (PADI) system for detection and quantification of degradation in aircraft structures due to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). This information can then be transferred to the OEM''s predictive models to provide predictions of remaining strength and life, thereby facilitating the development of maintenance strategies to mitigate the effects of the degradation on the aircraft safety and reliability. BENEFIT: Once developed and commercialized, the system will provide airline owners and maintenance personnel with real-time reliable information about the condition of the structures while in service. Such knowledge will lead to increased safety of operation, improved reliability of the structures and reduced maintenance cost through system automation. In summary, the system once in the market would improve safety for the public and reduce maintenance cost to the owners – a win-win solution for the public and the aircraft owners/companies.