CACRC Meeting & Workshop for Composite Damage Tolerance & Maintenance will be June 1-5 in Tokyo
Wichita State University, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Japan Airlines will host the next Commercial Aircraft Composite Repair Committee (CACRC) Meeting and a related FAA/EASA/Industry Workshop on Composite Damage Tolerance and Maintenance during the week of June 1, 2009.
These events will be held in Tokyo, with the CACRC meeting being held June 1-3 and the workshop on June 4 and 5.
The combined CACRC meeting and FAA/EASA/Industry Workshop is intended to meet two goals:
Increase awareness of the CACRC work being performed in composite maintenance in support of safe and efficient industry practices.
Review ongoing FAA/EASA/industry initiatives on composite damage tolerance and maintenance with key field experts.
FAA/EASA/Industry Composite Damage Tolerance & Maintenance Workshop
This is the third in a series of workshops to review aviation industry practices for composite damage tolerance and maintenance, and collect relevant field data to support Composite Safety & Certification Initiatives (CS&CI). The FAA CS&CI, which address composite damage tolerance and maintenance issues, are several years old.
In recent years, the FAA has been working with industry experts on training standards for awareness of critical safety issues in composite maintenance. A working group which includes Airbus, Boeing, FAA and EASA has been addressing related engineering issues over the last three and a half years. Workshops in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 were used to coordinate these efforts with the industry. The September 2005 workshop on composite maintenance training standards and the first two damage tolerance and maintenance workshops held in July, 2006 and May, 2007 are summarized at: https://www.niar.wichita.edu/niarworkshops/Default.aspx
The current workshop will be used to review and expand these CS&CI efforts to include the perspectives of other experts. The interface helps document current industry practices and advance the training, guidance and policy for composite damage tolerance and maintenance.
The FAA Joint Advanced Materials & Structures (JAMS) Center of Excellence has also supported CS&CI in these areas with research on critical technical issues and the development of training standards. As in previous workshops, the 2009 Japan workshop will review current results and help direct future research and training developments by JAMS.
The following subjects will be reviewed at the 2009 workshop. Experts from the field are currently being sought to present their perspectives on these subjects.
Candidate Technical Areas
Service history of critical composite structure
Service damage and reliability of field repairs
Damage tolerance (design criteria, structural test protocol, analysis)
Damage threats and inspection strategies (detection and characterization)
Repair design and structural substantiation (repair limits, design guidelines, proof of structure, building block approaches – benefits and costs)
Repair design and process guidance needs
Composite maintenance standard needs (near- and long-term expectations/reality)
Composite damage tolerance and maintenance training needs
Other elements of safety management used to ensure composite structural integrity
Workshop participants will include selected experts from industry, regulatory agencies, academia and other government organizations that are familiar with aviation practices in these areas.
The FAA will open the workshop with a synopsis of active CS&CI for composite damage tolerance and maintenance. In the sessions that follow invited speakers will present information that will benchmark service experiences and industry practices for each subject area. Finally, a working session will be used to collect additional insights in up to four technical areas identified with an asterisk in the agenda below.
CACRC Meeting
The CACRC is an international standards organization established to develop and improve maintenance, inspection and repair practices for commercial aircraft composite structures and components, and to reduce maintenance costs. It was formed in 1991 through the merger of separate Composite Repair Task Forces operating at the time under the Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
In addition to ATA/IATA/SAE entities, membership includes representatives from OEM's, regulatory agencies, material manufacturers, and technology experts from the field of composite structure and repair. Since its conception, the CACRC has published more than 25 SAE standards and reports supporting maintenance practices for composite aircraft structures.
Advancements by the CACRC depend on progress by working groups, which are comprised of experts from industry (airlines, maintenance organizations, suppliers and training providers), regulatory agencies and academia. The CACRC membership needs to expand as industry pursues advanced applications and business models change internationally.
For more information about attending the workshop and/or CACRC Meeting, please contact Laura Rhoades at 316-978-3873 or
laura@niar.wichita.edu.
The FAA's Center of Excellence for Composites and Advanced Materials (CECAM) provides the nation with a center for the validatino and quality assurance of composites and advanced materials to be applied in the construction of aircraft through research, testing, certfication and technology transfer; coordination and cooperation with the FAA, aircraft manufacturers, materials suppliers and airline companies; and education of the aircraft manufacturing and maintenance workforces. CECAM is part of the Joint Advanced Materials and Structures Center of Excellence (JAMS). CECAM is led by Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research, with core members from Northwestern University, Purdue University, Tuskegee University, the University of Delaware and the University of California at Los Angeles.
