A Novel NDE Corrosion Rate Measuring Sys for Airframe Structural Integrity

Due to the reduction in the resources available for replacement along with changes in the USAF mission, a half of military aircraft, already over 20 years old, are expected to be in service for much longer than they were designed to last. One of the major problems found in operations with aging aircraft is the cost associated with corrosion. A reliable corrosion rate measurement system can control corrosion maintenance, reduce the maintenance cost, and predict the residual life of a corroded aircraft part. There are a variety of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques to detect corrosion damages of aging aircraft structures; however, those techniques currently in use cannot measure corrosion rate of the structures. New innovative methods to measure corrosion rate in aircraft structures are needed. Lynntech, Inc. will design and develop a novel advanced NDE corrosion rate measurement system for aging aircraft structures based on electrochemical impedance (EI). The proposed NDE system, to be completely developed in the Phase II, will be simple, portable, inexpensive, highly reliable, and very sensitive to small corrosion defects in the aircraft structures. During the Phase I, a lab mode of the corrosion rate measuring system will be developed, and the proof of concept will be demonstrated.