Fault Location on Aging Aircraft Wiring

The Problem with Aging Aircraft Wiring How Live Fault Location Works Publications Sponsors Spin-Off Company LiveWire Test Labs, Inc. Software for Wire & Fault Simulations (sponsored by NASA)

The Problem with Aging Aircraft Wiring

As wire ages, it becomes brittle and may crack and break. Locating these problems can take hours, days, or more, while expensive or mission-critical aircraft sit idle. Some faults are not reproducible on the ground and show up only in flight, often effectively grounding aircraft while maintainers struggle to replicate or find the problem. Arc Fault Circuit (AFC) Breakers are being designed to detect small arcs before they cause aircraft fires, yet once these breakers have averted disaster, they leave a maintenance nightmare for the technician tasked with locating and fixing the tiny damage within miles of wire snaking through the walls, floor, ceilings, and wings of the aircraft.

The Center of Excellence for Smart Sensors is developing sensors to locate these and other faults in aging aircraft wiring. These sensors can be imbedded in handheld maintenance tools, on-board Smart Connector or Smart Wiring sensor systems, or directly into the wiring itself. Handheld systems will give maintainers eyes that can see through walls to locate the fault, remove a single panel, and repair the damage in a fraction of the time commonly required today. On-board systems will allow the pilot to test all of the wires in the plane with the push of a button prior to take-off. Next generation systems will be constantly monitoring the wiring and critical systems to which it is attached, will dynamically trade out the damaged section, report the damage, plan and orchestrate the repair, and dynamically prepare fleet maintenance plans based on data obtained from this continual monitoring. First generation systems detect and locate open and short circuits to within a few centimeters. Second generation systems detect and locate arc fault damage while the aircraft is live. Third generation systems will locate intermittent faults while the aircraft is in flight.

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How Live Fault Location Works

Testing Live Wires, College of Engineering Newsletter, Feb 2004

Thank you to our Sponsors:

Air Force Research Lab (via UTCD, ATT, IAStateU)

NAVAIR

National Science Foundation

NASA

Utah Centers of Excellence Program

Spin Off Company for Development of this Technology:

LiveWire Test Labs, Inc.

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Last revised: August 2007