METHODS ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED TO DISCERN THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF WEAPON SYSTEMS SUCH AS PRESSURE VESSEL CASES.

METHODS ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED TO DISCERN THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF WEAPON SYSTEMS SUCH AS PRESSURE VESSEL CASES. AT THIS TIME, NO TECHNIQUE EXISTS WHICH PERMITS A GLOBAL MONITORING OF THE OPERATIONAL READINESS OF ANY STRUCTURES, INCLUDING COMPOSITE MOTOR CASES. THE RANDOMDEC PROCEDURE, WHICH IS PLANNED TO BE UTILIZED UNDER THIS PROPOSED STUDY, APPEARS TO HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF INTERPRETING THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF COMPOSITE CASES WITH A MINIMAL NUMBER OF SENSORS. THE METHOD HAS HAD THE BENEFIT OF OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT AND VERIFICATION FOR SIMPLER TYPE STRUCTURES SUCH AS FRAMEWORKS AND SIMPLE PLATE STRUCTURES, BUT ALL MADE OF METALLIC MATERIALS. UNDER THE TASK PROPOSED HERE, THESE CAPABILITIES WOULD BE EXTENDED TO COMPOSITE STRUCTURES, AND, SPECIFICALLY, MOTOR CASES WITH KEVLAR AND GRAPHITE EPOXY TYPE MATERIALS. DAMPING PROPERTIES WOULD ALSO BE MEASURED AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY UNDER THIS EFFORT SO THAT COMPOSITE WING STRUCTURES COULD ALSO FALL UNDER THE SCOPE OF THIS EFFORT WITH RESPECT TO THEIR AEROLASTICITY PROPERTIES.