An Assessment of Durability Requirements for Aircraft Structural Health Monitoring Sensors

In recent years, the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) market has expanded, both in the quantity of applications as well as the number of technology providers. While most research has focused on optimizing detection methods themselves, an important area that has not been sufficiently addressed is durability requirements for SHM sensors. This paper presents a framework for considering smart structure durability and discusses the various applicable existing durability standards for commercial and military aircraft components, and how they relate to SHM systems. This work is part of a larger current investigation aimed at developing infrastructure to provide power, data collection, communication and protection from operational environments for a specific SHM system. The reliability and longevity requirements of SHM systems are discussed, as well as the need for a supplemental standard geared specifically towards smart structure technologies. The field of SHM has progressed significantly in recent years, and it will become critical to address these topics explicitly before SHM systems can be successfully commercialized and subsequently utilized in prognostic applications.