As a result of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, NASA has incorporated several methods to monitor the Shuttle wing leading edge during flight. As a part of that effort, NASA first investigated and then developed an acoustic method as a basis for an impact detection system. The investigation for this system involved an extensive set of ground tests that explored the system response to numerous impact parameters such as impactor material type, mass, energy, momentum, impact location, impact angle, target material, and the test system structural fidelity with the Shuttle. The goal was to demonstrate the ability to detect and localize impact events on the Shuttle wing structure and possibly quantify the impact parameters. The program successfully demonstrated the capability to detect and localize impact events on the Shuttle wing structure. In order to develop such a system for flight, various system parameters needed to be defined such as sensor types and sensor density. Subsequently, a first generation impact sensing system was developed and deployed on the Shuttle Discovery, the first Shuttle that was scheduled for return to flight after the accident. The system was based on equipment that was previously space flight qualified. A set of rules was established to determine if an impact might have occurred or not. Several tools were developed to help analyze the data, apply the rules, and report to the appropriate teams the results. The initial testing of the system during STS-114 produced good results.


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    Title :

    Structural health monitoring of the Space Shuttle's wing leading edge


    Additional title:

    Zustandsüberwachung der Vorderkanten der Space-Shuttle-Flügel


    Contributors:
    Madaras, E.I. (author) / Prosser, W.H. (author) / Studor, G. (author) / Gorman, M.R. (author) / Ziola, S.M. (author)


    Publication date :

    2006


    Size :

    8 Seiten, 8 Bilder, 1 Quelle





    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Storage medium


    Language :

    English




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