METIS DESIGN CORPORATION — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF192-001

Description

MIL-STD-1530D describes the Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP), which defines the requirements to achieve structural integrity for USAF aircraft. Since its inception (1972), inspection cost and asset availability has been driven by the constrains of non-destructive inspection (NDI) techniques that often require tear-down at depot locations and inspection by specialized trained experts. While this approach has proven extremely safe, alternative means of compliance (AMOC) are sought to reduce costs and down-time without increasing risk. To that end, the recent D-revision has included Structural Health Monitoring (SHM); an NDI technique that uses in-situ sensing devices to detect damage. SHM addresses AFWERX Focus Area 5 for rapid sustainment by introducing the benefits of condition-based maintenance (CBM). This revision dictates that the SHM probability of detection (POD) must be considered when determining its detection capability, using processes aligned with the statistical methods described in MIL-HDBK-1823A. The methods for establishing this POD and resulting inspection capability shall be evaluated by the NDI team and approved by the ASIP Technical Advisor. Now that multiple SHM methods have demonstrated commercial viability, the proposed effort seeks to establish the statistically equivalent probability of detection (SEPOD) approach to evaluate SHM inspection capability to facilitate its introduction within ASIP.