| Sol No.: |
Navy SBIR FY2012.1 |
| Topic No.: |
N121-043 |
| Topic Title: |
Landing Gear Structural Health Prognostic/Diagnostic System |
| Proposal No.: |
N121-043-0904 |
| Firm: |
Dayton T. Brown, Inc.
1175 Church Street
Bohemia, New York 11716 |
| Contact: |
William Bradshaw |
| Phone: |
(631) 244-6280 |
| Web Site: |
www.dtb.com |
| Abstract: |
A structural health monitoring / prognostic system for landing gear will be developed and demonstrated using load and other parameters as input data. Loads experienced by in-service landing gear assemblies will be measured by strain gaging and calibrating the landing gear's attachment pins. Other parameters such as the internal strut pressures will be monitored to provide data on the need for servicing or repair. The strain gage instrumentation will be installed in interior of hollow attachment pins and load calibrated prior to installation on the aircraft. By installing the instrumentation inside the pins the strain gages will be protected from environmental damage and can be prepared and calibrated prior to installation. This arrangement of load measurement devices will be able to determine all the loads acting on a gear without requiring information from other aircraft data sources. By accurately measuring the in-service loads on the landing gear the fatigue damage on these safe-life designed components can be accurately determined thus avoiding unnecessary removal from service while maintaining safety requirements for these critical components. |
| Benefits: |
The goal of this technology is to safely extend the service life of landing gear assemblies by accurately measuring the loads and other parameters on each individual landing gear in the fleet. By measuring this data, the fatigue damage on each gear can be determined and compared to the design fatigue spectrum damage that the gear has been qualified to. By determining the actual fatigue damage accumulated on individual gear, each individual gear could be used in service to the maximum extent safely possible. Data from other inputs on the landing gear will be used to provide data for determining increased maintenance intervals which will reduce unneeded servicing. |