An innovative high-fidelity approach to individual aircraft tracking
For military aircraft, the actual operational usage spectra can be quite different from the original design spectra and thus, so are the service loads affecting the fatigue life of the structure. In the presence of fatigue-critical buffet-induced dynamic loads, the use of flight parameters alone is not sufficient to accurately monitor the fatigue life of all critical areas of the airframe. This paper describes the progress of a collaborative effort between DST and RMIT University in developing a high-fidelity approach to individual aircraft tracking to support accurate and reliable fatigue usage monitoring. OPERAND (Operational Load Analysis and Asset Diagnostics) is a multi-physics analysis suite for structural diagnostics and prognostics tools based on the integration of current state-of-the-art software techniques, data-driven methods, and model-based approaches. This innovative framework has the potential to significantly improve aircraft fleet airworthiness management, provide substantial savings to aircraft operators and optimise aircraft availability for improved operational effectiveness. It aims to enhance pro-active condition-based aircraft maintenance through high-fidelity airframe fatigue tracking by significantly improving airframe load and stress predictions for any flight condition or aircraft configuration.
