Location
Holiday Inn, Manatee Rooms A & B
Start Date
26-4-1994 2:00 PM
End Date
26-4-1994 5:00 PM
Description
Inspection for structural integrity of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) is of paramount importance to mission safety. After every shuttle launch, the booster rockets are retrieved and an extensive inspection performed to components and welds to detect any degradation that occured as a result of the mission flight. The cost of refurbishment related to preparation, actual inspection, and reassembly after inspection, is substantial. It is a major factor concerning availability of these crucial components.
Paper Session I-C - Shuttle Component Structural Integrity Monitoring in Harsh Noise Environment
Holiday Inn, Manatee Rooms A & B
Inspection for structural integrity of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) is of paramount importance to mission safety. After every shuttle launch, the booster rockets are retrieved and an extensive inspection performed to components and welds to detect any degradation that occured as a result of the mission flight. The cost of refurbishment related to preparation, actual inspection, and reassembly after inspection, is substantial. It is a major factor concerning availability of these crucial components.
Comments
Recent studies reported that AE energy counts are physically related to fracture mechanics parameters, and that AE energy count versus strain energy release rate or J-integral has a linear relationship for Inconel 718 and aluminum alloys.fl,2] An AE structural monitoring system will assure that, if damage occurs to the structure during shuttle mission, AE from the damage area could be monitored and used as a cost-effective means for initial screening to identify potential locations for selective postflight inspection, otherwise reinspection may reasonably be eliminated. AE can therefore be a cost-effective approach to control refurbishment cost of major shuttle components. Two crucial issues must be addressed: filtration of severe noise background from a rocket launch environment as well as AE signal correlation to fracture parameters.