Aircraft Operational Loads Data Check

Abstract

The reliable evaluation of operational loads plays a major role in the type and scope of mainte-nance tasks to be planned for an aircraft. On the one hand there are short-time events such as gust, turbulence and hard landings, which may cause incidents where parts of the aircraft structure are subjected to very high loads. In that case an assessment of the incident is necessary to decide, if the aircraft may continue flying or has to be grounded for further inspections. On the other hand there are continuous operational loads caused by the flight maneuvers which the aircraft experiences during its life-time. This aircraft operational usage may be very individual for each aircraft type and airline. Maintenance schedules ensure that components are inspected and replaced in advance before massive damage occurs. In both cases the assessment of the structural loads is based on measured flight data and operational data such as flight hours and number of take-off and landings. Measured flight data for the assessment of flight loads may be collected from various sources of different quality. In this report the results of different case studies are presented where processes and methods developed in the area of flight data analysis and system identification are applied to current areas of interest of the Airbus flight loads department.