Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension

Providing Structural Integrity Technology to the Aerospace Community

T-38 Fuselage Teardown:

One Man’s Trash is
Another Man’s Treasure

USAF ASIP Conference

2 Dec 14

Isaac Grothe, SwRI

Dr. Michael Blinn, USAF
Dr. Paul Clark, SwRI
DISTRIBUTION A. Approved for public release: distribution unlimited.
Ref# 2014-11-14_WLD-101; 75ABW-2014-0040

1
 Acknowledgements
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• USAF T-38 SPO

– T-38 ASIP, Hill AFB, UT
• Sabreliner Aviation
– Ste. Genevieve, MO
• NexOne
– USAF Academy
• CAStLE
– USAF Academy
• Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
– San Antonio, TX
– Hill AFB, UT

2
 Outline
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• Teardown Introduction
• Program Overview
• T-38 Overview
• Teardown and Inspection Process
• Inspection Findings and Analysis
• Impact of Findings
• Conclusion

3
 T-38 ASIP
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• Many tools in sustainment of aging

aircraft
– Analysis
• Closed form, FEA, DTA …
– Testing
• Full scale, static, fatigue …
– Field data
• Usage, inspections, repairs …
– Pros and Cons in each
• Capturing time component
• Aircraft accessibility
• Full destructive teardowns are an
infrequent but valuable tool
– Can show full reality of fleet
damage
– Highlight unknowns

4
 Primary Program Goals
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• Quantify the effects of engine update program

on airframe structure
• Improve technical characterization and
understanding of Pacer Classic III (PCIII)
components
• Provide a more holistic and proactive approach
towards understanding the life impact and
criticality for all existing and new structural
critical safety items (CSIs) of the airframe

5
 T-38 “Talon” Overview
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• 1950s
– Designed to fatigue; not damage tolerance
– First supersonic jet trainer
• 1960s
– Initial operational capability (IOC) 1961
• 1970s
– Last delivery of T-38 in 1972
– Total of 1,187 T-38s produced
– Durability/fatigue requirements and damage
tolerance introduced
• 2010s
– Trained pilots in several different countries
– Over 75,000 pilots
– Navy and NASA, other countries also have T-38s
– T-38s primary user remains USAF (AETC)

6
 Teardown Article
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

T-38C
• 15,000 hours
• Variety of usages
• Airframe mods
– Dorsal Longeron
– Cockpit Enclosure
– Bulkhead replacement
– PMP
• Airframe opted for
early retirement

7
 Major Assemblies of the T-38C
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

Teardown Assemblies

• Forward Fuselage
• Center Fuselage
• Aft Fuselage
• Vertical Stabilizer

8
 Airframe Teardown Sections Definition
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

Assemblies broken into 12 teardown sections

9
 Teardown Data Management System
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

Detailed Parts

Teardown Section Parts

Breakdown (TSPB)

Findings - Detailed
Photographs

10
 NDI Types for Teardown
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• Close Visual Inspection (CVI)

• Fluorescent Penetrant
Inspection (FPI)
• Eddy Current
– Bolt Hole Eddy
Current (BHEC)
– Surface Scan Eddy
Current (SSEC)
• Magnetic Particle Inspection
(MPI)

11
 Notes About Damage
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• Artifacts of the teardown vs. service damage

− Damage from flying (actual usage)
− Mechanical damage induced during teardown
• Large volume of findings
− Level of severity was mostly minor
− Most cracking was relatively innocuous
• Minor Fatigue cracking and SCC in secondary
structure and other less critical components

• Focused analysis on primary structure/details

− Small fraction of total indications

12
 Summary of Teardown Inspections
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• 394 Parts removed and examined

• 6677 indications
– CVI: 5222
• Mechanical Damage: 4330
• Cracking: 384
• Corrosion: 497
• Other: 11
– FPI: 1060
• Mechanical Damage: 19
• Cracking: 762
• Corrosion: 278
• Other:1
– Eddy Current:395
• Mechanical Damage:292
• Cracking: 84
• Uninspectable: 19
– MPI: No indications

13
 T-38C Fuselage Indications Summary
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

1200
12%

1000

18%
800
Number of Indications

70%
600

400
Corrosion
200

Cracks
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13
Section Number Mechanical Damage

14
 T-38C Fuselage Teardown
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

Crack Indications Summary:

CVI

FPI

15
 Prioritization for Failure Analyses
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• NexOne, USAFA, CAStLE, SwRI,

USAF Input
• Consideration for:
– Specific part and location
– Fleet history (T-38 Damage Database)
– Drawing Tree evaluated
– Priority ranked from 1 to 5

• Presented for consideration for

Failure Analysis
– 50 components with 161 indications

16
 Failure Analysis Locations and Results
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• 66 Completed
• Categories
– Fatigue
– Mechanical
Damage
– Corrosion
• Exfoliation
• Pitting
• IGC Exfoliation Corrosion 11 Mechanical Damage 17
Pitting Corrosion 3 Stress Corrosion Cracking 4
• SCC Intergranular Corrosion Cracking 4 Mixed Mode 4
– Mixed Mode Fatigue Cracking 23

17
 Possible Heat Affected Parts (Task III)
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• T-38C aircraft received Propulsion Modification Program

– Major engine and structural mod to aid takeoffs
• Opportunity for structural engineering review:
– Proactive and opportunist evaluation of inner-
structure
– Check for evidence of heat soak into fuselage
– Check for possible material degradation
• Conductivity
• Hardness
• Composition
• Strength

18
 Possible Heat Affected Parts (Task III)
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• 62 parts with 12 different materials/alloys

examined, a broad array of product forms
− Sheet and plate
− Extrusions
− Forgings
− Castings
• Examined for/by:
− Alloy identification/confirmation
− Temper identification
− Hardness
− Conductivity
− EDS (energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy)

19
 Possible Heat Affected Parts (Task III)
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• Summary:
– 21 from 7075 aluminum
– 6 from 2024 aluminum
– 1 from 2014 aluminum
– 5 from Ti-6-4 titanium
– 1 from Ti-8Mn titanium
– 2 from AZ91C magnesium
– 1 from AZ31B magnesium
– 10 from 17-7PH stainless steel
– 1 from 17-4PH stainless steel
– 8 from 4340 steel
– 2 from 4130 steel
– 1 from 4337 steel
– 1 from Hastelloy X
– 2 from 10XX carbon steel

20
 Possible Heat Affected Parts (Task III)
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• Of the 62 parts examined, only two had an

indication of not being within the expected
range of material properties
– One component had only slight material difference
• Unlikely to be due to the engine update
• Nature of converting hardness to tensile strength is approximate
• Original strength may have been low

– One was concluded to have experienced softening

due to thermal exposure during service

21
 Pacer Classic III Program
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• Pacer Classic III (PCIII) is a major structural update

program for a select number of T-38C
• Depot-level replacement of life-limited parts
• Extend USAF T-38C fleet’s service beyond 2020
• Major fuselage structure
– Longerons and bulkheads
– Formers and skins
– Floors

• Teardown seeks to evaluate current components look

for additional parts to consider for PCIII (watch items)

22
 PC III Evaluation
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• All PC III Items reviewed

– NDI findings
– FA reports
• Major findings on PCIII components
– Corrosion
• Ranked by severity
– Weight factors
• Potential PC III Additions
– 19 different components
– Ranked list provided to USAF

23
 Major Takeaways
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• T-38 ASIP/SPO understands this airframe was

medium-time and not lead-the-fleet
− Matter of availability (opportunity)
− Still, the airframe provided valuable data
• No TCTOs or special inspections resulted from the
teardown inspection
• Teardown confirmed need for PCIII program and
provided valuable insight for T-38 ASIP/SPO for
adding additional components
• Further investigate identified part(s) suspected to
have heat degradation

24
 Conclusion
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

• The program has been responsible for an

incredible generation of results, data and
recommendations for continued successful
management of the T-38 ASIP program.

• Turning one man’s trash (a damaged/retired

asset) into another man’s treasure (valuable
information), provided the T-38 ASIP/SPO with
better direction for future sustainment of the
T-38C fleet

25
 T-38C Fuselage Teardown
USAF Academy Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE)

Questions?

Isaac Grothe
Southwest Research Institute

26