WR-ALC/GRM-Eagle Division

Certifying the F-15C Beyond 2025

Paul A. Reid The Boeing Company Joseph D. Lane Warner Robins-ALC/GRMEB
December 02, 2010 | 1

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Outline
Introduction
Evolution of F-15C service life Service life projections

Full-scale fatigue test history Current FTA7/8 full-scale fatigue test

Testing approach Configuration Engineering activities

FEM overview Test spectrum overview Test severity tool Health monitoring

Current FTA7 status

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Air Combat Command plans to fly the F-15C beyond 2025

Full-Scale Fatigue Testing Needed

Production run 1978 1986

Contractual Service Life

Avg A/C will go thru PDM 7 times by 2025

Evolution of F-15C Service Life

Time Period USAF Required Service Life Certified Service Spectrum Life Spectrum Flight Hours Spectrum 3 Severity

'76 - '80 '81 - '93 1994 '94 - '08 '08 - '13 '14 - '25 4,000 1

4,000 1 4,000 1 8,000 18,000 18,000

4,000 8,000 2 9,067 9,067 TBD

FTA1 FTA1
Fleet Usage

0.33 0.33 0.72 1.0 1.0 1.37

Economic Service Life is 16,000

FTA6 FTA6 FTA7

1 Fail-Safe (Crack Initiation) and Safety Factor of 4.0 2 Damage Tolerance and Safety Factor of 2.0 Introduced 3 Relative to Critical Hole on FS 626 Bulkhead Lower Cap

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Required Service Life Projected to 2025

Individual Aircraft Equivalent Flight Hour (EFH) Projection Describes individual aircraft usage in terms of a reference test spectrum

ProjectedEFH

Squadron DI1 # Years Year

Cum DI

PredictedLife2

Factors to consider: Squadron re-distribution Damage rates Future changes to location(s) of interest
initial flaw size continuing damage

preventive repairs

Fleet size
1 2 DI = Damage Index, the percent of crack growth life depleted using individual aircraft usage Crack growth life at location of interest, such as the critical economic life location
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Current Equivalent Flight Hour Summary

14,000

As of 31 December 2009
EFH Cum DI Predicted Life
Aircraft exceeding 9,067 Hour Certified Service Life*

12,000

Equivalent Flight Hours

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

Assumptions: 2009 Squadron distribution 2009 Damage rates Revised 626 bulkhead centerline analysis FTA6 EFH All aircraft
0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000

0 Reported Flight Hours

* These aircraft have restricted airworthiness certificate

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F-15C/D Golden Fleet 2025 Projected Equivalent Fatigue 2025 Projected Equivalent Flight Spectrum Hours (EFSH) Hours (EFH) FS 626 Bulkhead at Centerline Location (Location 5000)

2007 EFSH = 10847 2007 vs 2009 Estimate Average Estimate hrs

20,000 18,000

Projected Equivalent Flight Hours

16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 0 2,000 4,000 6,000
8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000

2007 Assumptions: 2007 Squadron distribution 2007 Damage rates Historical FS 626 bulkhead analysis FTA6 EFH Long term fleet 2009 Assumptions: 2009 Squadron distribution 2009 Damage rates Revised 626 bulkhead analysis FTA6 EFH Long term fleet

2007 Estimate 2007 Estimate 2009 Estimate

Projected Actual Flight Hours

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F-15C/D Inventory Projections

500

450

C/D Inventory Flying Beyond CSL

400

350

Number of Aircraft

300

Anticipated Test CSL

250 FSFT CSL Goal of CSL=18000 200 C/D Inventory Needed by USAF C/D Inventory Based on CSL=9067

150

100

50

1978

1988

1998

2008

2018

2028

Year

2038

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Full-Scale Fatigue Test History

FTA-1, FTA-3, FTA-5: A/B Model (Block 1) 1974 1976

Test Result: 16,000 Hours No major failures Certified Safety Limit = 4,000 Hours

Component Tests: - Fwd Fuselage - Rudder - Speedbrake - Landing Gear - Flap/Aileron (FTA-5)

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Full-Scale Fatigue Test History

Test Result: 18,133 Hours Major failure at intermediate spar Certified Service Life = 9,067 Hours

FTA-6: A/B/C/D Models 1988 - 1994

Aft Fuselage (dummy)

A/B Wing

C/D Wing

A/B Center Fuselage

Fatigue Test Teardown Results number of cracks found FTA-1, 3, 5 FTA-6 Wing A/B 111 249 Wing C/D n/a 138 Forward Fuse. 0 n/a Center Fuse. 1 126 Aft Fuse 17 n/a Components 0 n/a
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FTA-7/8 Full-Scale Fatigue Test

2009 Engineering / Lab Prep. Test Article Arrives Phase I FTA7 Testing FTA8 Testing Phase II Test Article Teardown Phase III Correlation Analysis 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

2.1 Years
Mar

2.75 Years
8 Months

Only Phase 1 funded

4.66 Years 3.9 Years

Test Article Configuration

Test Article 30 years old Latest PDM March 2010 8,426 FTA-6 EFH (8,100 AFH) FTA-7 Fwd. Fuselage Center Fuselage Aft Fuselage Wings (2 sets) FTA-7 FTA-8
Loading Fixture

FTA-7

Loading Fixture

Loading Fixture FTA-7 FTA-7

Loading Fixture
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FTA-8 Horizontal Stabilator

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FTA-7/8 Test Article Configuration

Preventive Repairs
Installed on all aircraft during PDM

Areas redesigned from cracks found in earlier tests New inboard spars installed Significant repair budget in place to maximize endurance Preventive Repairs Installed: Upper outboard longeron at FS 502 Vertical stabilizer picture frame with Gridlock Various simple fixes to holes that cracked in FTA6 Canopy sill longeron at FS 377 Doubler repairs on lower wing skin FS 626.9 bulkhead lower cap

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FS 626.9 Bulkhead Lower Cap Fleet Failure

Outboard Forward

Forward

Hole 12B cracked in FTA6 from pit on forward side of hole Figure B-1 Fleet failure occurred in 11,543 FTA6 EFH Analytical Match of Fleet Failure Achieved Forward
Similar view,

0.8 0.7

Crack Length (in.)

0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 FTA6 Spectrum Hours

0.6875

Zone 1

Zone 2

View looking Outboard

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Additional FS 626.9 Bulkhead Repair Configurations FS 626.9 Bulkhead Lower Cap Preventive Repair

FS 626.9 Bulkhead Lower Cap Permanent Repair

View Looking Forward

View Looking Forward

FS 626.9 Bulkhead Lower Cap Temporary Repair

Bulkhead expected to crack: Cracks found in FTA6 Cracks found in service Repair Concept: Reinforce with fittings

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Project Engineering Support Activities

Stability & Control
CFD airload distributions

Mass Properties
Section mass dist.

Loads
PITS studies

A/C mass dist. For FEM

Strength

Load balances Aeroload pressure dist. Theoretical external loads 38 balanced test loads Actuator loads

Fatigue
Test plan

FEM development
Inertia load points Airload points FEM refinement Theoretical & test FEM loads Test article requirements Strain gage defn. / correlation Strain surveys

Strain gage definition Test severity tool

Lab

Over/under studies
Master events spectrum criteria 38 test load case definitions Target spectrum

Test spectrum
Spectrum generation software

Merc/Boeing FEM 14

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Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC) / Boeing Global FEM

MERC FEM, element boundaries turned off

Substructure detail

Full FEM, 914 K shell elements, ~6 million DOF Each part modeled with shell elements at mid thickness, average element size ~1 Parts connected with ~250 K rigid body elements (RBEs) Approximately 7000 individual parts modeled
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Boeing Efforts to Prepare FEM in Support of FTA7

Define inertial mass points:

Estimated at ~ 6,000 nodes

Define discrete mass points:

All non-structural items over 10 lbs, ~ 113 items

Create coarse aero shell for CFD pressure mapping:

Original mesh aero shell was > 300,000 elements Boeing aero shell, ~ 30,000 elements

Tank 1

Create fuel cell shells for fuel pressure mapping

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Boeing Efforts to Prepare FEM in Support of FTA7

Status of Model Changes Made to Date: Aero and fuel pressure shells created Addition of canopy and windscreen Addition of vertical tip pods Addition of rudders Changes to wing dihedral Replacement of honeycomb core with Gridlock in wingtips, control surfaces, and vertical tail Replacement of horizontal tails with existing fine grid mesh model Re-modeling of wing-to-fuselage joints Validation of properties Various structural idealization assumptions 38 balanced test and theoretical load cases Actuator unit load cases Preliminary FEM Validation Plan: ~ 1,000 strain gage locations mapped to primary load paths Pre-strain survey check-out of all load cases Compare predicted vs measured test strains on select number of gages at 80% load level. Correlation criteria is +/- 3 ksi for stresses < 20 ksi and +/- 15% for stresses > 20 ksi
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FTA7 Spectrum Generation

Nz usage based on last 5 years, adjusted to reflect future usage expectations.

Effect accounted for using base weighting factors Nz data from Counting Accelerometer (C/A) Damage rates at key tracked locations

Usage parameters that define target spectrum:

22 Symmetric Points-In-The-Sky (PITS) 16 Asymmetric PITS

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FTA7 Spectrum Summary

Peak-Valley Exceedance Comparison - Wing Root Bending
100,000

10,000

1,000

100

10

Spectrum Severity FTA1 = 0.33 FTA6 = 1.0 FTA7 = 1.37

Theoretical spectrum: Match base-weighted targets using actual Structural Data Recorder (SDR) files SDR files chosen using optimization routine C/A Nz counts Damage rates at tracked locations Typical target error 2.5% Actual test spectrum: Match theoretical spectrum with 38 balanced load conditions
0.9 1.1

Exceedances per 1,000 Flight Hours

1 -0.5 -0.3 -0.1 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 Spectrum Load Level

Need to quantify how accurate test spectrum is being applied.

Validation of applied spectrum accuracy: FEM validation (strain surveys) Near real time external load controls severity tool Comprehensive over/under test severity tool Crack growth correlation, spectrum truncation, and marker band test program
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Test Severity Tool Overview

Theoretical Loads Cond. 1, 2, n
Theoretical Target Actuator Loads: P1T = 5000 lbs, P2T = 1250 lbs, P108T = -400 lbs

Strain Correlated FEM

Build Up Theoretical and Actual Stress Spectra

100,000

10,000

1,000

Determine Stress Influence Coefficients

Cond 1 Cond 2 Cond 3 Cond n P1 C11P1 C21P1 C31P1 Cn1P1 P2 C12P2 C22P2 C32P2 Cn2P2 P3 C13P3 C23P3 C33P3 Cn3P3 Pn C1nPn C2nPn C3nPn CnnPn

100

10

P1

P2

P107

P108

-0.5

-0.3

-0.1

0.1

0.3

0.5

0.7

0.9

1.1

Extract FBD / FEA Stress and Perform Crack Growth Analyses

Over
Crack Length

Actual Measured Actuator Loads: P1A = 5075 lbs, P2A = 1235 lbs, P108A = -404 lbs

Theoretical

Under

External Load Controls Any Area of Interest

Spectrum Flight Hours

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Near Real-Time External Load Controls Severity Tool

TEST- vs - PREDICTED DAMAGE RATIOS
1.50
WRBM P1 - P55 P73 P77 - P97

Delta Damage Ratio Since 1 Day Ago from (16,781 SFH to 16,952 SFH) Total Cumulative Damage Ratio to Date from (12,000 SFH to 16,952 SFH)

1.40
1.20

FT77 CUMULATIVE P23 TEST SEVERITY - P51 P31 - P37 P13 - P19 P13 - P19 P27 P41 P27 - P39 P27 - P39 P25 P29 THROUGH THE END OF EACH BLOCK (Control Points) P53 P53
P55 P55

WRTQ P1 - P55 P73 - P97

WFBM

WFTQ

ILEFHM

OLEFHM

TEFHM

AILHM

WTFBM P53 P55

WTABM P53 P55

1.30

DAMAGE RATIO

1.15

CYCLE RATES Block 10: 14.0 lpm Block 11: 13.2 lpm Block 12: 14.2 lpm Block 13: Block 14: Block 15: Block 16: Block 17: Block 18: 16.7 lpm 18.3 lpm 18.5 lpm 18.5 lpm 18.5 lpm 18.5 lpm

The Delta Damage Ratio Since X Day(s) Ago is the change in damage in X days (4/22/04 to 4/23/04 in this example).

1.20
1.10

Sample Output
Find actual chart and change comments
1.08 1.08 1.02 1.02 1.00 1.02 1.03 1.03

There are four options used to identify the window of interest: 1) end date 2) # of days before 3) cycling or calendar days? 4) the days first or last data file? 1.07 1.00 1.00
Block 13 1.00 Block 14 Block 15 Block 16 Block 17 Block 18

1.10
1.05

0.99
DAMAGE

1.00
1.00

0.97

0.96

0.98 0.95

0.99

1.00

0.98

0.90
0.95

0.80
WRBM WRTQ WFBM WFTQ ILEFHM OLEFHM TEFHM AILHM WTFBM WTABM

0.90

EXTERNAL LOAD CONTROLS

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Structural Health Monitoring Systems

Piezoelectric Transducers
1) Piezoelectric Transducers Drive and Sense Acoustic/Ultrasonic Energy Transmission Through Structure

Installed on: Intermediate Spar Lower Cap Shoulder Rib FS 626 Bulkhead Preventative Repair
Impact 15, Flat Panel 42 Ply Damage Depth Prediction from Scatter Algorithm
Scattered Image Volume

2) Propagation Paths are Disturbed by Structural Damage Causing Changes in Propagation

3) Multiple Algorithms provide highly sensitive damage indicators up to and including 3D damage imaging

Impact 15

SHM Estimated Damage Depth = 0.187

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Structural Health Monitoring Systems

Comparative Vacuum Monitoring (CVMTM)
Installed on: Intermediate Spar Lower Cap Shoulder Rib
1) A sensor has a matrix of separated alternating galleries a Vacuum (red) gallery and an Ambient (blue) gallery which are open to the surface to which they are adhered to.

Bolt Hole Sensor

Strip Sensor

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FTA7 Fatigue Test Status:

October, 2010
Test Loads Development: Mass properties 100% CFD solutions 100% Balanced loads 30% Actuator loads process 65% Actuator balanced loads 0% Finite Element Model: FEM refinement 67% Strain gage prediction/correlation 0% Spectrum Development: Master events criteria 100% Usage spectrum 100% Test load conditions 100% Preliminary test spectrum 25% Spectrum generation software 75% Spectrum validation testing 20% Test severity tool 10% Lab: Strain gage drawings Instrumentation installation Wing loading pad install Fuselage load fitting install Test fixture 100% 50% 50% 60% 25%

Test Cycling Start Date: Sept. 07, 2011

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