Strain Gage Calibration Using Response to Dynamic Input (STURDI)

Impact Technologies, with oversight from the prime JSF manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, proposes to develop and demonstrate a system for in-situ calibration of strain sensors that are used for structural life tracking on in-service fleet aircraft. Key tasks in Phase II include: 1) Fully definining the performance specifications and constraints that the calibration technology must meet; 2) Downselecting dynamic input technologies to use – the phase I technologies included using response to low levels of localized periodic forcing functions as well as controlled impact events; 3) Designing and manufacturing increasingly complex test fixtures – starting from simple structures that can be easily analyzed to structures that adequately reproduce aircraft-representative structures that simulate where strain gages would be placed in the target aircraft; 4) Testing the dynamic calibration technology on the structures and comparing calibration results to results obtained from both static loading and from analytical results (i.e. known baselines); 5) Demonstrating the ability of the techniques (calculating accuracy) at each stage of the process; and 6) Creating ruggedized ‘beta’ prototype hardware, electronics and back-end analysis software for potential field testing at the end of Phase II and into Phase III.