March-April_2022 - 22

COVER STORY
No Disassembly Required
The days having our aircraft be able to tell us exactly what
is wrong with them and where are still a ways off into the
future, but while we wait for fully integrated smart aircraft,
smart washers are filling some gaps.
Designed by JPB Système for Airbus Helicopters, smart
washers work by providing the information of the bolt's actual
load, details Jonathan Beaumel, project engineer with JPBSystème.
" It
allows you to know without touching the assembly, without
interfering on the assembly, on the bolt, it allows you to
know if it is correctly tightened or correctly torqued, without
any intervention on it, " he said.
Inside the washers are electronics that provide the information
on the force and relay the information to a communication
module outside of it, with the benefit of being battery-less.
" When you've got the smart reader, she's a product that
we also developed, you just come closer from the washer
and you push the button of the reader and it will communicate
with the washer. It will provide the power to the washer
and it will also give the power to the fuel system. And then
the washer will talk to the reader and tell him if it is correctly
torqued on it, " said Beaumel.
The washers also track what work has been done, who did
it and even the GPS coordinates for said work.
" We can upload into the washer this information that at
this day, Walker has been doing a check and the value of the
check was this value. We can also provide information on,
for example, the GPS coordinates, where you were at this
time when you did this information. So this is pretty much all, "
Beaumel said.
According to Beaumel, the information that really matters
is the load information and how it might be differing under different
circumstances.
" Let's say you apply a torque with some kind of grease and
you apply the same torque on the same assembly with another
kind of grease. So you will try to have the same torque,
but the resistance of the actual load won't be the same. So
with this value, with this data that we provide with the smart
of in new ways à la sensors and " smart "
technology. And that's just naming a few
of the complexities behind preventative
aircraft maintenance.
" You can see where that leaves things
open-ended as to what is and what is not preventive
maintenance, " said Frank Logsdon,
Textron technical representative, Duncan
Aviation, about the FAA's definition.
" When applied to aviation, it [preventative
maintenance] can be the difference
between a small amount of time and
22 MARCH/APRIL 2022
washer, it's completely independent of the torque. And you
get to the real value that you want, which is the actual load, "
he explained.
The washers are recommended for use in spots where
regularly maintenance is performed.
" If you don't do maintenance that you know, that this kind
of bolt never untightened due to vibration, that basically this
bolt remained all the same during 10 years or whatever, it's
completely useless to install this kind of smart washer. But if
you have to perform a regular maintenance on certain very
critical parts, then I strongly recommend to use our device, "
Beaumel said.
The project began three years ago at the request of Airbus
Helicopter as they were looking for a solution to quickly know
if bolts were installed correctly or not.
" Sometimes it means that to disassemble a lot of equipment
all around the bolts. And when we are reaching the
bolts, we have to remove the sealant, that could be all around
the bolts. And then we take torque wrench, we uninstall it, and
then we apply the torque again. And then we have to install
all the equipment in front of the bolts. So it takes a lot of time
and possibly it could lead also to mistakes because you will
touch to an assembly that was potentially well installed. And
potentially you will put some mistakes inside of it and into the
bolts and also into all of the equipment that you have to move,
to get access to the bolt, " Beaumel said.
The smart washer eliminates that work, providing quick
and efficient information without the disassembly required of
traditional washers.
The washers are in the process of being certified for use
on helicopters, but once that is reached, Beaumel said the
hope is to expand their use to other aircraft.
" Helicopters were actually the most critical for this kind of
device because the vibrations are higher than in aircraft. And
they also perform more torque checks than into the aircraft
industry, which leads the parts to be more cost effective than
the aircraft industry. So, it'll give us the time to improve the
industrialization of the product, " he said.
materials to repair or prevent small problems,
or an aircraft crashing and potentially
killing people, " added Steve Goede, general
manager, West Star Aviation. " What this
means is taking care of things before they
can become a much larger, more expensive,
or potentially fatal problem. "
Mike Saathoff, director of sales opperations
& engine and accessory sales, Elliott
Aviation, estimates that 95 percent of the
aircraft maintenance can be classified as
preventative.
" I look at all inspections as being preventative.
We're doing inspections on aircraft
to discover any discrepancies or any issues
that could cause issues in the future. So
those inspections are done at a particular
time to be ahead of the situation to make
sure you're not running into any situations
where something would break or be broken, "
Saathoff said.
Goede lists the common types of preventative
maintenance as:
* Lubrication of components
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
March-April_2022

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