February 26, 2001
The National Science and Technology Council last year issued a review on wire system safety, which concluded in part, that: ³wire system safety is an important public health and safety issue that transcends government agencies.² Wire chafing may figure prominently in a growing number of aircraft malfunctions, particularly in older aircraft still in use in the military and commercial market. Wire chafing is known to account for 37 percent of wire system failures in reported military aircraft hazardous incidents; short circuits and unspecified failures account for another 24 percent, for a total of nearly 60 percent of wire system failures that may be attributed to wire chafing. NASA¹s venerable, but aging, Space Shuttle fleet also has suffered the problems of wire chafing. An electrical short caused the loss of two main engine computers during the launch of the Shuttle Columbia in July, 1999. |
BOZEMAN, Mont. - Better monitoring of aviation wire systems may keep aging commercial and military aircraft safer for the millions of passengers and crew who fly daily. Damaged wiring may result in failure of essential functions, smoke or fire, and poses a serious threat to public health and safety. Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing (KMM) of Killdeer, North Dakota, is working with technology developed by the U.S. Air Force to detect damaged wiring in aircraft before it creates a hazard. The MSU TechLink Center in Bozeman, Mont., a technology transfer organization that serves companies throughout the Northwest, helped KMM locate and license the technology from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Information Directorate, in Rome, New York. There are many miles of electrical wiring inside aircraft structures that can become dangerously worn and frayed from years of vibration and rubbing against other aircraft parts. Wire chafing may cause a short-circuit in an aircraft¹s electrical system or spark a fire, potential sources of disaster. Finding damaged wiring, however, is a difficult task. A Boeing 747, for example, has over 150 miles of wiring, much of it located in inaccessible areas of the aircraft. ³KMM is excited about developing this technology,² said KMM President, Don Hedger. ³It has great promise to improve the safety of aircraft wiring while offering excellent marketing opportunities for the company.² This technology also has the potential for detecting early wear in non-wiring components such as hydraulic lines and fuel lines in airborne and surface vehicles, Hedger said. Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing produces high-quality electrical and electronic systems for major aircraft manufacturers and aerospace contractors, including wire harness assemblies that carry the electronic lifeblood of modern aircraft. The company will integrate AFRL¹s technology into its wire harness assemblies and create a wire chafing detector that is poised to become part of an important safety system for our nation¹s commercial and military aircraft. According to an AFRL spokesman, this early warning system could augment regular aircraft inspections and vastly improve aircraft safety, by detecting and locating areas where wire chafing is just beginning, long before the electrical insulation has worn off and damage has occurred. KMM has developed several sensing technology embodiments that it will soon test and refine under actual operating conditions. The Department of Defense has developed numerous technologies that are dual use, having both military and commercial applications, such as this wire chafing detection technology. TechLink is located at Montana State University in Bozeman and funded by the Department of Defense and NASA to link companies in Montana and the surrounding region with federal laboratories for joint research and technology transfer. Its overriding purpose is to contribute to the success of both technology-based companies and key resource-based industries in the state and region. Contacts:
Ray Friesenhahn
MSU TechLink Center
(406) 994-7726
Dan Hedger
Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing
(830) 367-5884
killdeer@ktc.com
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