Innovative Concepts for Inspectability and Repariability of Composite Components

An immediate requirement exists for new techniques for efficient non destructive inspection and repair of composite components such as those that will be used in the "composite weapon" that is under development. IDeally, these operations would be undertaken at the field or the depot level itself, and be performed by semi-skilled operators. Therefore, systems that are robuts, inexpensive and accuracy of which is independent of the operator's skill level are required. Aerotech proposes an embedded or surface mounted system of piezoelecric sensors coupled with an artificialneural network to assess the damage level in a structure and determine residual life. The sensors reveal the health of the component, while the neural network analyzes the output from the sensors to detect damage, extent of damage and location of the damage. The operator can determine the extent and the location of the damage during a routine maintenance schedule with the help of a hand-held meter. Aerotech also proposes the development of a standard field-repair method for composite structures based on the new UV-cured resins that offer ultra-fast cure speeds, good bond strength and ease of use.