Activities at the FAA aging aircraft NDI validation center
Aging Aircraft NDI Validation Center (AANC) was established by the FAA Technical Center (FAATC) at Sandia National Laboratories in August of 1991. The Validation Center supports the inspection portion of the FAA`s National Aging Aircraft Program which was mandated by Congress in the 1988 Aviation Safety Act. The ultimate customers of the AANC include the FAA, airframe and engine manufacturers, airlines, and third party maintenance facilities. One goal of the AANC is to provide independent validation of technologies intended to enhance the structural inspection of aging commuter and transport aircraft. Another goal is to assist in transferring emerging inspection technology from other parts of the FAA`s program to the aircraft industry. The deliverables from both these activities are an assessment of the reliability and cost benefits of an inspection technology as applied to a particular inspection or class of inspections. The validation process consists of a quantitative and systematic assessment of the reliability and cost/benefits on a Nondestructive Inspection (NDI) process. A NDI process is defined as the NDI systems and procedures used for inspections. This includes the NDI operator, inspection environment, and the object being inspected. The phases of the validation process are: 1. Conceptual, 2. Preliminary design, 3. Final design, and 4. Field implementation. The AAANC usually gets involved in the validation process during Phases 2 and 3. The Center supports field trials with a full array of test specimens and established procedures for conducting the trials. Phase 4 reliability includes field trials using independent inspectors either at the Center`s hangar or at outside maintenance facilities. Three activities are summarized below where inspection technology has been validated in the field. These are: (1) eddy current inspection reliability experiment; (2) magneto optic imager validation; and (3) inspection tool improvement.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 10176513
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-94-2001C; CONF-9409194-1; ON: DE94017419; BR: GB0103012; TRN: AHC29421%%120
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1994 American science nondestructive testing fall conference,Atlanta, GA (United States),19-23 Sep 1994; Other Information: PBD: [1994]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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