INSTRUMENTED TORQUE WRENCH

QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA) EFFORTS DURING LAUNCH SITE PROCESSINGINVOLVE INSPECTION, SURVEILLANCE, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF STANDARDS TO ASSURE CONSISTENTLY SAFE RESULTS. A NEED EXISTS FOR THE CREATION OF A SYSTEM UTILIZING AN INSTRUMENTED TORQUE WRENCH CAPABLE OF AUTOMATICALLY RECORDING BOTH THE LOCATION OF THE BOLT, MAXIMUM TORQUE IMPOSED ON IT. ANCO'S PROPOSED INSTRUMENTED TORQUE WRENCH SYSTEM FOR THE PHASE I EFFORT CONSISTS OF A TORQUE WRENCH WITH A STRAIN GAUGE ASSEMBLY INSTALLED ON IT. THE ACT OF TORQUING WILL IMPOSE A STRAIN AT THE INTERFACE OF THE MAIN WRENCH ASSEMBLYAND THE MOMENT-ARM. A STRAIN GAUGE BETWEEN THESE TWO COMPONENTS WOULD MEASURE THE INTERFACE STRAIN AS A FUNCTION OF GAUGE RESISTANCE. THIS RESISTANCE IS TRANSMITTED TO AN ELECTRONIC INTERFACE, WHICH DETERMINES AND THEN TRANSLATES BACK THE APPLIED AND THE RESULTING MOMENT. FOR THE PHASE I CONCEPT, THIS TORQUE WRENCH WOULD BE CONNECTED TO A PORTABLE LAP-TOP COMPUTER. ALSO ATTACHED TO THE COMPUTER WOULD BE A BAR-CODE READER CAPABLE OF READING A BAR-CODE STICKER ATTACHED ON OR NEAR THE BOLT. THE TECHNICIAN WOULD SIMPLY READ THE BAR-CODE AND THEN APPLY THE REQUIRED TORQUE TO THE BOLT. A LATER VERSION OF THIS SYSTEM COULD INCLUDE A LED INDICATOR ON THE WRENCH WARNING THE TECHNICIAN IF AN INCORRECT TORQUE WAS BEING APPLIED TO THE PARTICULAR BOLT IN QUESTION. THE BOLT LOCATION, TORQUE USED, AND THE DATE AND TIME WOULD THEN BE LOGGED IN THE COMPUTER.