30th Congress of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences

11 - Operations and Sustainment

RESEARCH ADVANCES ON AIRCRAFT STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY AND SUSTAINMENT AT NRC

M. Liao¹, M. Yanishevsky¹, P. Patnaik¹; ¹Aerospace, National Research Council Canada, Canada

This paper presents a summary of recent research advances conducted at NRC supporting aircraft structural integrity and sustainment. As a government R&TD agency, NRC carries out material and structural research for both military and civil aircraft. The efforts include practical and innovative researches in the areas of, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul; Reliability and Risk; Environmental Effects; Continuing Airworthiness; Total Life Cycle Analysis; and Life Extension. Examples of best practices will be presented in support of the structural integrity and sustainment of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) transport/patrol aircraft (CC-130, CP-140), fighter aircraft (CF-188), helicopter (CH-146, CH-149), and civil aircraft such as Harvard T-6 and Bombardier Challenger 350. Based on the lessons learned and the new challenges foreseen, NRC continues the research on physics-based modelling, model-assisted non-destructive inspection (NDI) and structural health monitoring (SHM), non-standard coupon testing and efficient structural testing, as well as integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) technology. The recent progress of the new research is summarized and discussed in this paper. In conclusion, this paper shows that the NRC researches have provided significant support to Canadian aircraft fleet structural life-cycle management by helping to maintain safety, increase availability, and reduce maintenance costs.


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