U.S. Army Rotary-wing Airframe Defect Trending, Modeling, and Analysis

Abstract

The U.S. Army monitors the structural integrity of its rotary-wing aircraft fleet through annual evaluations and reporting via the Airframe Condition Evaluation (ACE) program. ACE evaluations capture the location and character of structural defects for each aircraft, which are then available for trending and detailed analysis by engineers with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center (CCDC AvMC). As analytic methods are increasingly advanced through the digital thread, CCDC AvMC has sought to improve available trending, modeling, and analysis tools beyond status quo to provide higher fidelity visuals to both aid communication with decision makers, and also to reveal structural defect trends which may not otherwise be evident. This paper will detail the development and utility of the ACE Color Mapping Application within the ACE Mapping Module and its impact on product support of U.S. Army aircraft with regard to airframe structural integrity.