Innovative Method for Real-Time Damage Alleviation Navy SBIR FY2011.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2011.2 Topic No.: N112-118 Topic Title: Innovative Method for Real-Time Damage Alleviation Proposal No.: N112-118-0034 Firm: Technical Data Analysis, Inc. 3190 Fairview Park Drive Suite 650 Falls Church, Virginia 22042 Contact: Chance McColl Phone: (770) 516-7750 Web Site: www.tda-i.com Abstract: Deployment of Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) on rotorcraft has resulted in significant improvements in maintenance action efficiency, increases in safety, and reductions in cost. Current HUMS provide diagnostic/prognostic information to maintenance crews through Condition Based Maintenance (CBM), which allows parts to be replaced on an as-needed basis. This marks an improvement over legacy approaches, which relied on conservative life estimates that resulted in early component retirement. HUMS shows tremendous value, yet is still a passive system that provides no active fatigue damage alleviation. If a pilot has the tendency to over-control the aircraft, it may result in more damage than if the pilot were to provide only the control required to get the job done. Even if pilots are trained to reduce control inputs to the required level, the evolution of rotorcraft flight control systems to increase handling qualities and responsiveness can cause an increase in component damage rates. This proposal defines a system to be developed to interface with HUMS to automatically reduce aircraft component damage in real-time by modifying the control system output. This system will track damage and subsequently optimize the flight control system output to reduce damage accrual, all while maintaining the required maneuverability, flight quality, and handling qualities. Benefits: One of the key goals of the loads alleviation system is to achieve a more effective maintenance and operational strategy. There is a directed need by the DoD to enhance fleet readiness (materiel availability) while reducing downtimes (materiel reliability, mean down time). By sensing the flight loads in real-time and applying load alleviating countermeasures instantaneously, this technology can achieve just that. The component reliability will be enhanced with more realistic, less conservative lifetime predictions. More overall knowledge about the specific components will be known as they degrade requiring less mean down time to conduct part replacements or repairs. This will facilitate the elimination of unnecessary maintenance actions on the specific components. Not only will this system improve readiness, but also implementing these strategies will also alleviate the overall cost of operation and support (O&S). It has been shown that O&S cost can contribute from 65%-80% of the total life-cycle cost of the program, and as such, there is a significant need to seek efficiencies and cost-savings measures wherever possible. Return