Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has won a seven-year contract worth $9.9m from the US Air Force (USAF) to forecast the service life of landing gear components on the F-16 Fighting Falcon fleet.
The work will focus on predicting when parts require replacement, identifying root causes of failure, and recommending changes to maintenance practices.
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The contract has been issued under the Comprehensive Landing Gear Integrity Programme, an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity agreement that spans 20 years.
The $300m programme is shared among three organisations, including SwRI.
SwRI principal engineer Laura Hunt said: “Aircraft landing gear experience unique conditions compared to other aircraft components. We are looking at impact forces during touchdown, stress from towing loads and factors like corrosion and vibration, which make the landing gear particularly vulnerable to fatigue and damage over time.”
SwRI plans to use flight data recording, full-scale testing, life prediction and probabilistic analysis to improve the accuracy and efficiency of current lifespan estimation methods for landing gear components.
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By GlobalData“Our fatigue life prediction experience and probabilistic analysis capabilities set SwRI apart on this work, allowing us to predict the service life of these parts while assessing uncertainties with greater confidence,” Hunt added.
SwRI has provided technical engineering support to the Air Force for several decades through the Aircraft Structural Integrity Programme and the US Air Force Academy Centre for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE).
Its prior work includes development of structural health monitoring systems, specialised inspection probes, and the NASGRO software for analysing fracture and fatigue crack growth in structures and mechanical parts.
The F-16, introduced in 1978, is a multi-role fighter aircraft with more than 2,000 currently in active service.
The aircraft can fly more than 860km in an air-to-surface role, according to the USAF.
