Dec. 05--DAYTON -- The University of Dayton Research Institute was awarded a $354,000 contract from Northrop Grumman Corp. to help keep the U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt military aircraft fleet flying safely, university officials announced Thursday.
UD researchers will use the award to develop a risk-analysis tool to support management of the A-10 fleet, officials said.
The tool will be based on UDRI's Probability of Failure structural risk-analysis computer program, which was developed in 1987 with Air Force funding, and then upgraded in 1998, 2005 and 2011. It will be used to help predict the risk associated with a crack in the aircraft structure growing to failure size during a specified period of operation, officials said.
The new Air Force program will be used by the A-10's Aircraft Structural Integrity Program management team to develop inspection and maintenance schedules to help ensure aircraft safety. The program has the potential to save the Air Force unnecessary labor and expense, said Frank Smith, a UDRI Structural Integrity division senior research engineer and the principal investigator on the contract.
"It will help make sure aircraft are pulled for inspections when they should be, but not prematurely," Smith said in a statement.
Last month, the Dayton Daily News reported that UDRI was named as a partner in the Air Force program to help modernize the A-10 Thunderbolt. The Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman two task orders totalling $24 million to support a four-year structural integrity program designed to keep the A-10 weapon system viable through 2028 and beyond.
In addition to UDRI, Northrop Grumman's partners also include the Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio, Texas; Borsight Inc. of Ogden, Utah; and Prime Machine Inc. of Salt Lake City.
Northrop Grumman, headquartered in Virginia, last year consolidated most of its Dayton-area workforce and moved about 350 employees into a new Beavercreek building on Colonel Glenn Highway.
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