Crack Nucleation Prediction through Surface Roughness Measurement

Our commercial and military fleets operate safely but at a great cost. Downtime for structural inspections, elaborate sustainment equipment, long maintainer hours, expensive in-depot repair, continuous spectrum monitoring, and extensive component testing have effectively reduced the rates of structure-related accidents, but the costs are overwhelming. DARPA has proposed changing the paradigm of aircraft structural management by creating a new methodology to inspect, diagnose, prognosticate, and manage airframe life. VEXTEC proposes a unique approach to this challenging problem in utilizing pre-existing, non-contact sensor technology for surface roughness measurement coupled with our novel physics-based microstructural crack-modeling simulation tools, materials expertise, and metals-application knowledge base. The means and processes presented here – meant to implement a consolidated prognostics technology that uses structural surface profilometry, materials models, and early crack-progression simulation – will allow for the diagnostics and prognostics of small damage.