Search Results

This paper describes a framework for developing an Integrated Electrical Power System (EPS) Health Management System. The framework is based on the perspective that health management, unlike other capabilities, is not a self-contained, stand-alone system, but is rather an integral part of every aircraft subsystem, system, and the entire platform. Ultimately, the objective is to improve the entire maintenance, logistics and fleet operations support processes. This perspective requires a new mindset when applying systems engineering design principles. The paper provides an overview description of the framework, the potential benefits of the approach and some critical design and implementation issues based on current development efforts.

Increasing the automation in a flight deck has not always led to benefits to the pilot; instead it is often found that inappropriate implementation of automation can cause a variety of issues including loss of situation awareness, poorer performance, and a perceived increase in workload. It is important to determine in what context a pilot might benefit the most from the inclusion of automation and then to determine the appropriate level at which that automation is implemented. The objective of this study was to evaluate what level of automation is most appropriate for supporting the pilots in the performance of non-normal event resolution tasks. Pilots were given a series of scenarios where the level of automation for performing tasks was varied from no automation to full automation. A related objective was to determine whether the use of a voice interface is effective in providing sufficient feedback to support the pilots' situation awareness.

The diverse and complex requirements of next-generation energy optimized aircraft (EOA) demand detailed transient and dynamic model-based design (MBD) to ensure the proper operation of numerous interconnected and interacting subsystems. In support of the U.S. Air Force's Integrated Vehicle Energy Technology (INVENT) program, several software tools have been developed and are in use that aid in the efficient MBD of next-generation EOA. Among these are subsystem model libraries, automated subsystem model verification test scripts, a distributed co-simulation application, and tools for system configuration, EOA mission building, data logging, plotting, post-processing, and visualization, and energy flow analysis. Herein, each of these tools is described. A detailed discussion of each tool's functionality and its benefits with respect to the goal of achieving successful integrated system simulations in support of MBD of EOA is given.

Fully autonomous systems are seen as the ultimate solution to all manufacturing problems due to their consistent quality and ability to improve rates, but they also have one key disadvantage: Limited equipment versatility. This shortcoming becomes most apparent when trying to apply automation to aircraft final assembly. The variety of jobs is great and would necessitate the development of many unique solutions. Therefore a robotic system designed for one job on one aircraft version might be useless on the next version. Also there are many tight spaces and complex jobs where automation is just not practical, meaning that workers with portable tools will always have some presence in production. The modern smart portable tool as exemplified by the Novator PM Series orbital drill motor is capable of matching the quality and speed of a robotic system while still maintaining the ability to be applicable over a wide variety of jobs.

Structural Health Management (SHM) and its related technologies offer the combined benefits of reducing maintenance costs while maintaining or improving structural design performance. SHM implementation for in-service aerospace platforms requires an approach to quantify how each application can provide benefits. A clear understanding from a benefits perspective provides insight to optimize SHM system design. The focus of this paper will be to describe the key aspects of SHM design from a large scale systems integration perspective. This will be accomplished by a brief overview of SHM from a design and integration perspective, followed by a discussion of SHM derived requirements in the context of example applications. Detailed assessments of a particular application often uncover very stringent requirements to meet existing design, operational performance, qualification, and certification criteria.

This paper reports on the experimental study of carbide and polycrystalline diamond (PCD) drills used for drilling composite/titanium stacks. Materials systems used in this study were multi-directional carbon fiber in an epoxy matrix and titanium 6Al-4V. The drill materials included tungsten carbide (WC; 9%Co ultra fine grain) and polycrystalline diamond (PCD; bimodal grade). Torque and thrust force were measured during the drilling experiments. Tool wear of both drills was periodically examined during the drilling tests using various microscopic techniques such as optical and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Effect of tool materials and process condition on hole quality parameters such as hole diameter, surface roughness, and titanium burrs, were examined. Dissimilar mechanical and thermal properties of the stacks affected the tool life and resulted in the decreased hole quality for both cutting tool materials, although to a differing degree.

{Next-generation network enabled (eEnabled) airplanes will digitally communicate with ground systems continuously at airport, for collection, distribution and loading of airplane data and software parts. Wireless technologies further bring the opportunity of pervasive connection with eEnabled airplane anywhere at airports. However, safety critical airplane information assets mandate secure solutions for eEnabled airplane applications. In this paper, we address the issue of securing wireless eEnabled airplane applications at airports for reliable and safe airplane operation. We identify the special challenges and present research results by comparing the state-of-the-art technologies and proposing the strategy of “defense in depth.”}

Validation is a critical component of model-based design (MBD). Without it, regardless of the level of model verification, neither the accuracy nor the domain of applicability of the models is known. Thus, it is risky to base design decisions on the predictions of unvalidated models. The Integrated Vehicle Energy Technology (INVENT) program is planning a series of hardware experiments that will be used to validate a large set of unit-, subsystem-, and system-level models. Although validating such a large number of interacting models is a large task, it provides an excellent opportunity to test the limits of MBD.

The diverse and complex requirements of next-generation energy optimized aircraft (EOA) demand detailed transient and dynamic model-based design (MBD) to ensure the proper operation of numerous interconnected and interacting subsystems across multiple disciplines. In support of the U.S. Air Force's Integrated Vehicle Energy Technology (INVENT) program, several MBD-derived software tools, including models of EOA technologies, have been developed. To validate these models and demonstrate the performance of EOA technologies, a series of Integrated Ground Demonstration (IGD) hardware tests are planned. Several of the numerous EOA software tools and MBD-based processes have been updated and adapted to support this activity.