Southwest Research Institute has received two contracts totaling $23 million from the U.S. Air Force for a program to address aging aircraft structures and material degradation. Under these contracts, the Institute will help the Air Force modernize methods to sustain the T-38 Talon, the A-10 Thunderbolt and the B-52 Stratofortress. All three military aircraft first came into service more than 45 years ago.
“SwRI will assist with the full spectrum of structural sustainment for these aircraft,” said Luciano Smith, manager of SwRI’s Structural Integrity Group. “Our analyses will help the Air Force know when, where and how often to inspect the aircraft to determine when structural repairs are necessary.”
For several decades, SwRI has provided technical engineering support to the Air Force to extend the life of aircraft that came into service in the ‘60s and ‘70s and that have exceeded their design life. Under these new contracts, the Institute will help manage the structural integrity of the A-10 Thunderbolt II, a close air support attack aircraft first introduced in 1976, and the T-38 Talon, a two-seat supersonic training aircraft introduced in 1961.
“SwRI has worked with the Air Force to maintain the structural integrity of the A-10 for more than 20 years and the T-38 for more than 40,” said David Wieland, who oversees the Institute’s Aerospace Structures Section. “Under these new contracts, we will perform design, analyses, testing and nondestructive inspections. We will also evaluate flight data recording, usage monitoring and individual aircraft tracking systems.”
SwRI will also help maintain the B-52 Stratofortress, a strategic heavy bomber manufactured in the 1950s. The structural integrity and performance of all three fleets of aircraft will also be evaluated under simulated real-world conditions. Work on the fleets has already begun.
Since beginning structural integrity work for the Air Force in the early 1970s, SwRI has developed tools in support of that effort, including a flight data recording system to help engineers understand the structural stresses associated with various flight maneuvers, and the NASGRO® software tool, a collaboration with NASA that can analyze fracture and fatigue crack growth in structures and mechanical components. Additionally, SwRI has created specialized inspection probes and nondestructive systems to inspect through bushings without removal, which is currently undergoing probability of detection study.