Rani Warsi Sullivan

Mississippi State University

Static/Dynamic Testing and Health Monitoring of

Large Scale Composite Structures

Composites-In-Transportation Symposium

14-15 March 2013

Honda R & D

Goal

Development of all composite research jet

Activities

Mold Manufacturing

Composite Part Fabrication

Material Characterization

Mechanical Testing

Non-destructive Testing

The Experimental MH02

1986-1997

Honda MH02 1st All-composite Business Jet to Fly

Crew: one or two pilots

Capacity: six passengers

Length: 11.25 m (36 ft 11 in)

Wingspan: 11.24 m (36 ft 11 in)

Height: 4.18 m (13 ft 9 in)

Max takeoff weight: 3,600 kg (7,937 lb)

Powerplant: 2 × P & W JT15D1 turbofan engines, 5.3 kN (1,200 lbf) thrust each

Maximum speed: 654 km/h

(406 mph; 353 kn)

Ground Tests Structural & Mechanical Integrity

Test subjects = 60

# of tests ~ 100

Safety Assurance Program

Honda Structural Tests

Wing Test Program Fuselage & tail joint structure test

Ultrasonic Testing

Determine orientation of multi-ply laminates using oblique incidence.

Determine damage in composites. Hole diameter = 0.5”

0 Cycles 1E6 2.4E6 3.5E6

Ultrasonic Testing

Determine orientation of multi-ply laminates using oblique incidence.

Ground Test Vehicle

Chassis of a 54 Buick Roadmaster convertible,

Test bed

Collect data without the expense of a full-up wind tunnel or the risk and logistics of a manned or remotely operated flight test.

array of pressure transducers, strain gauges, load cells, and data acquisition systems

Composite Manufacturing

Seemann Composites Fabrication of Composite

Sensor Template

duPont Aerospace VTOL aircraft molds

Arboga 5-axis CNC milling machine (18'x14'x3')

Raspet OWL OPA

ULSP – ARMY DOD

Ultralight sailplane

All-composite

L-3 Geneva Aerospace flightTEK® autopilot

Dynon Avionics electronic flight information system (EFIS)

Microair transceiver and transponder

Owl 1 – autonomous or remote flight: Non-retractable 32-hp engine

Owl 2 - unpowered and configured strictly for manned flight.

Material: GR epoxy woven fabric

(Toray, TCSPF-T-FC06)

GR epoxy unitape prepreg

(Toray, TCSPF-T-UD07)

Foam core (Divinycell®HT 50)

Material Description

Raspet OWL OPA

Maximum L/D: 30:1 at 55 knots

Minimum sink rate:

175 ft/min at 46 knots

Powerplant: 32-hp normally aspirated engine or none

Crew: 1

Length: 20 ft 7.2 in (6.279 m)

Empty weight: 155 lb

Vibration Test Setup

Full UAV: Free-free configuration Single wing: Shaker-table

Vibration Results Out-of-plane

Larger magnitude and less noise in shaker-table approach

Similar natural frequencies- especially for the first two natural frequencies

R-1A R-1B

R-3B R-3A

A1 A2

A6 A5

ULSP Wing Static Testing

Load Parameters

Gross Weight = 450 lbs.

High angle of attack loading

Limit load factor (LLD)= 3.8 = 855 lb/ wing

Ultimate load factor = 5.7= 1283.5 lb/ wing

Load Actuator

394 lb 359 lb

301 lb

229 lb Whiffletree

Load Cell

UTF

LS1 LS2 LS3

LS4 5.7-g loading

Pump

Vortex Lattice Method

Failure location: identical for right and left wings:

compression side at aileron transition

1st Failure: right wing at 1456 lb.

Design, fabrication & testing of wing assembly validated.

(failure load exceeds the design ultimate load by ~ 15%)

Whiffletree – safe, economical & effective method for static testing.

Compressive

Failure

Aileron

cut-out

ULSP Wing Failure

UAV Structural Monitoring

Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG)

Real-time in-flight sensors

Accurate, lightweight

Multiplexibility

Wavelength peak shifts occur linearly due to induced strain

Ko, W. et al, NASA/TP -2009-214643, Sept. 2009 . Bakalyar J. et al, Fiber Optic Strain Sensing Technology, NASA Dryden 2012.

FBGs on ULSP Wing

8 channel FBG System Accurate, lightweight

2 fibers – 2 channels

389 sensors per fiber

Sensor spacing = ½”

Resultant Load = 2269 N

Wing Deflection and Load Distribution from FBGs

Ikhana Wing Shape

Ko, W. et al, NASA/TP -2009-214643, Sept. 2009 . Bakalyar J. et al, Fiber Optic Strain Sensing Technology, NASA Dryden 2012.

Thank you