Guidelines for smart structural health monitoring systems for military aircraft: lessons learned from the smart structures concept requirements (SSCORE) contract

摘要

The Smart Structures Concept Requirements Definition Contract objectives were to: (1) establish requirements for an on-board smart structural health monitoring system (SHMS); (2) assess relevant smart structures technologies; (3) develop conceptual near-term and ideal SHMS designs; (4) identify gaps in current technologies; (5) perform selective testing; (6) investigate system benefits; and (7) outline future R & D needs for development of an operational SHMS. The salient results and key lessons learned from the contract are summarized. Under the contract, monitoring requirements for metallic and composite structures have been established. A crucial requirement that cannot reliably be met with current sensing technologies is the need to monitor damage remotely, when the location is not known a priori. Other required components of a SHMS are more mature and are or will be available for near-term applications. The development of a fully automated SHMS will require coordinated multidisciplinary efforts, the paper discusses these and related issues and presents an overall assessment of the SHMS concept.