An Innovative Structural Fatigue Monitoring Solution for General Aviation Aircraft
This article proposes a novel and effective solution for estimating fatigue life of General Aviation (GA) airframes using flight data produced by digital avionics systems, which are being installed or retrofi tted into a growing number of GA aircraft. In the proposed implementation, a fl ight dynami...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE)
2018-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.jatm.com.br/jatm/article/view/779 |
| _version_ | 1818471222792421376 |
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| author | Christopher Keryk Roberto Sabatini Kyriakos Kourousis Alessandro Gardi Jose M. Silva |
| author_facet | Christopher Keryk Roberto Sabatini Kyriakos Kourousis Alessandro Gardi Jose M. Silva |
| author_sort | Christopher Keryk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article proposes a novel and effective solution for estimating fatigue life of General Aviation (GA) airframes using flight data produced by digital avionics systems, which are being installed or retrofi tted into a growing number of GA aircraft. In the proposed implementation, a fl ight dynamics model is adopted to process the recorded fl ight data and to determine the dynamic loadings experienced by the aircraft. The equivalent loading cycles at fatigue-critical points of the primary structure are counted by means of statistical methods. For validation purposes, the developed approach is applied to fl ight data recorded by a fl eet of Cessna 172S aircraft fi tted with a Garmin G1000 integrated navigation and guidance system. Based on the initial experimental results and the developed uncertainty analysis, the proposed approach provides acceptable estimates of the residual fatigue life of the aircraft, thereby allowing a cost-effective and streamlined structural integrity monitoring solution. Future developments will address the possible adoption of the proposed method for unmanned aircraft structural health monitoring, also considering the accuracy enhancements achievable with advanced navigation and guidance architectures based on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Vision-Based Navigation (VBN) Sensors, Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and Aircraft Dynamics Model (ADM)augmentation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:48:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dd4ed84802e543079d0e3d6132608d00 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2175-9146 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:48:17Z |
| publishDate | 2018-02-01 |
| publisher | Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-dd4ed84802e543079d0e3d6132608d002022-12-22T02:14:09ZengInstituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE)Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management2175-91462018-02-0110An Innovative Structural Fatigue Monitoring Solution for General Aviation AircraftChristopher KerykRoberto Sabatini0Kyriakos Kourousis1Alessandro Gardi2Jose M. Silva3RMIT University, School of Engineering Intelligent Transport Systems Research GroupUniversity of LimerickRMIT University, School of Engineering Intelligent Transport Systems Research GroupRMIT University, School of Engineering Intelligent Transport Systems Research GroupThis article proposes a novel and effective solution for estimating fatigue life of General Aviation (GA) airframes using flight data produced by digital avionics systems, which are being installed or retrofi tted into a growing number of GA aircraft. In the proposed implementation, a fl ight dynamics model is adopted to process the recorded fl ight data and to determine the dynamic loadings experienced by the aircraft. The equivalent loading cycles at fatigue-critical points of the primary structure are counted by means of statistical methods. For validation purposes, the developed approach is applied to fl ight data recorded by a fl eet of Cessna 172S aircraft fi tted with a Garmin G1000 integrated navigation and guidance system. Based on the initial experimental results and the developed uncertainty analysis, the proposed approach provides acceptable estimates of the residual fatigue life of the aircraft, thereby allowing a cost-effective and streamlined structural integrity monitoring solution. Future developments will address the possible adoption of the proposed method for unmanned aircraft structural health monitoring, also considering the accuracy enhancements achievable with advanced navigation and guidance architectures based on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Vision-Based Navigation (VBN) Sensors, Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and Aircraft Dynamics Model (ADM)augmentation.https://www.jatm.com.br/jatm/article/view/779Aviation safetyFatigueGeneral aviationCycle countingDynamic loadManoeuvre identification |
| spellingShingle | Christopher Keryk Roberto Sabatini Kyriakos Kourousis Alessandro Gardi Jose M. Silva An Innovative Structural Fatigue Monitoring Solution for General Aviation Aircraft Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management Aviation safety Fatigue General aviation Cycle counting Dynamic load Manoeuvre identification |
| title | An Innovative Structural Fatigue Monitoring Solution for General Aviation Aircraft |
| title_full | An Innovative Structural Fatigue Monitoring Solution for General Aviation Aircraft |
| title_fullStr | An Innovative Structural Fatigue Monitoring Solution for General Aviation Aircraft |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Innovative Structural Fatigue Monitoring Solution for General Aviation Aircraft |
| title_short | An Innovative Structural Fatigue Monitoring Solution for General Aviation Aircraft |
| title_sort | innovative structural fatigue monitoring solution for general aviation aircraft |
| topic | Aviation safety Fatigue General aviation Cycle counting Dynamic load Manoeuvre identification |
| url | https://www.jatm.com.br/jatm/article/view/779 |
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