Application of the Meandering Wire Magnetometer to Detection and Quantification of Cummulative Fatigue Damage in Aircraft Structural Components

Fatigue is a widespread phenomenon which accounts for the majority of structural failures in mechanical systems. [1] Fatigue failures are often catastrophic and without warning. For these reasons, the management of the effects of fatigue is of extreme importance to operators of fleets of aging aircraft. The U.S. Navy, for example, expends more than 2,000,000 man-hours per year managing aging effects on aircraft. [2] The ability to nondestructively detect and quantify accumulated fatigue damage, prior to the formation of detectable cracks, would be vitally important to that effort. This ability would permit earlier identification of areas experiencing accelerated aging due to fatigue, prompting modifications to inspection and maintenance programs. Cost savings and improved safety would follow. JENTEK Sensors, Inc., in an on-going Phase I SBIR grant from the Department of Energy, has recently demonstrated the capability to measure accumulated fatigue damage on specimens of stainless steel. This proposal involves the adaptation of this new capability to inspection of naval aircraft.