A New Concept for Permanent Geometric Reference Points made from RFID tags for Composite Aircraft Components

This work presents a new concept for permanent markers consisting of RFID tags built into aircraft components made from fibre reinforced plastics. The novelty of this concept lies in the antenna design, which represents a geometric point that can be accessed using commonly employed non-destructive testing (NDT) methods, specifically suited for thermovision. These geometric points provide a reliable frame of reference for accurate data localization throughout the entire life cycle of the components. Initial results obtained with an antenna design incorporated into a glass-reinforced epoxy laminate quantify the anticipated localization accuracy achieved through our concept. We utilize a geometrically calibrated, off-the-shelf bolometer and standard lock-in thermography in our approach

DIGITALIZATION AND DATA MANAGEMENT IN AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE COMPOSITE REPAIR PROCESS

The digital transformation poses a major challenge to the aviation industry with its diverse fields of operations and its mostly historically evolved organizational structure. But there is a lot of potential in the individual organizations for increasing efficiency and reducing obstacles for interoperability by establishing different digitalization concepts. In the past, research has been conducted on various technologies such as assistance systems, automation or inspection and image processing methodologies in the field of composite repair. However, digitalizing individual process steps using a new technology does not necessarily mean that it will also result in a more efficient overall process. For more efficient processes and the implementation of the vision of a digital twin, the digitalization and consideration of the respective holistic process is necessary. Data consistency, which should run like a thread through all process stages is a key factor and requires a corresponding data management concept. The repair process for fiber-reinforced composite structures, see Figure 1, is the basis for the development of a vision for a digital transformation in this work. The reason for this is, that the tasks in this process are usually carried out manually. The resulting media disruptions during the technical execution as well as during the final documentation limit the usability of information. This leads to an additional effort for information interpretation during the process execution and inhibits the potential for a data-based learning and improvement process. In the first part of this paper, the individual process steps are presented according to the current state of the art. This is followed by a process modification doing research regarding suitable technology concepts, which could be used to allow the complete digitalization of the process flow. Based on this, a corresponding data management system for the modified process will is designed, that enables an interaction between the process itself and the digital twin

Hybrid Electric Propulsion Systems for Medium-Range Aircraft from a Maintenance Point of View

The use of a hybrid electric propulsion system for aircraft offers the potential to increase aircraft efficiency, reduce fuel consumption and thus reduce emissions. Design concepts, emission analysis and aircraft performance are being studied extensively. However, how future hybrid electric propulsion systems will change the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of an aircraft is also an important consideration. This paper examines the effects of hybridisation on a parallel hybrid electric propulsion system of a medium-range aircraft, the Airbus A320, powered by an IAE V2500 engine. The electric motor is powered by a battery and is used to assist the turbofan engine, mainly during the takeoff phase. The additional system components of the chosen hybrid electric propulsion system and their corresponding damage mechanisms are addressed from a maintenance point of view. Challenges for future maintenance are discussed and possible failure modes and failure possibilities are analysed. For this purpose, a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis and a Fault Tree Analysis will be carried out. The results of this analysis can be used to determine how the additional components need to be designed to maintain the overall safety of the propulsion system at the current level. This will also provide needs and ideas for a future design for maintenance

Localisation of Ultrasonic NDT Data Using Hybrid Tracking of Component and Probe

Knowledge about the location of a defect is essential for damage assessment. In terms of a digitalised maintenance, inspection data is combined with position information. The presented approach regards the manual ultrasonic inspection, where the ultrasonic probe and the inspected component are both hand-held. By using markerless tracking technologies, it is possible to track the component without any markers. The ultrasonic probe is tracked by a more stable marker-based tracking technology. This results in a hybrid tracking system, which allows a referencing of the non-destructive testing (NDT) data directly to the local coordinate system of the 3D model that corresponds to the inspected component. Transferring this approach to other manual inspection technologies allows for a superimposition of recorded NDT data without any postprocessing or transformation. A better damage assessment is thus enabled. The inspection system, the inspection tool calibration and the camera registration process are described and analysed in detail. This work is focused on the analysis of the system accuracy, which is realised by using a reference body

Augmented and virtual reality for inspection and maintenance processes in the aviation industry

Maturity of augmented and virtual reality devices has considerably grown recently. As processes in the aviation industry are error prone and time consuming, efforts are made to implement these technologies to support human workers during inspection and maintenance. Nevertheless, varying process and device characteristics impede the selection of a suitable technology. A concept is presented to evaluate the potential of inspection and maintenance processes in the aviation industry regarding the use of mixed reality systems. Four different use cases are discussed applying augmented or virtual reality devices in an industrial context

Using DICONDE for NDT Data Exchange

The processing of multiple data sets from different NDT vendors and systems can be challenging. Accessing the data requires dealing with different and often proprietary data formats. In addition to that the correct spatial alignment requires knowledge and information about the acquisition system and must consider different approaches for markers and reference coordinate systems. The key features of NDE 4.0 and digital twin concepts are storage and interoperability with standard data formats. In this example data from thermography, manual ultrasonic testing and immersion ultrasonic testing are considered. For established devices multiple tools exist for the conversion of data into image-based formats. However, besides the lack of spatial alignment there is a need to access the raw data for further processing. In medical and CT-like applications the DICOM format has become a widely used exchange format. Its derivative DICONDE transfers this into the field of NDT. This study demonstrates the use of this format for data processing from multiple NDT methods and addresses issues related to interoperability and the integration of less structured data from inspections

An Approach for Visual Realism Complexity Classification of 3D Models in Virtual and Augmented Reality

3D models are at the core of every virtual and augmented reality application. They appear in varying degrees of visual realism complexity, depending on the intention of use and contextual as well as technical limitations. The research concerning the effects induced by different degrees of visual realism complexity of 3D models can be used to define in which fields and applications a high visual realism is needed