This invention is generally referred to a methodology of structural prognostic, and more specifically to a method and a system for the prognostic of a mechanical structure, in particular a structure of aircraft, adapted to evaluate the presence or to monitor the rise-up of damages or defects induced in a structure by operative loads and/or service events.
In the maintenance methodologies of systems (parts of products or complex products) it is extremely interesting the possibility of reducing unexpected failures, through the monitoring of some indicators of the system status.
According with the known technique, in aeronautics the rise-up of damages or defects in a mechanical structure of an aircraft, such as metallic or composite structure, e.g. the fuselage or the wing structure, are prognosticated through a historical recording of the events among which events that caused damages due to accidental impacts during production (impact of a tool) or service (impact with hail or rubble) and the loads born by the structure, or by an estimate of the fatigue underwent by the structure, starting from the knowledge of its characteristics of mechanical strength under typical loads in service conditions.
In particular, for composite structures, accidental impacts produce effects scarcely visible from outside, but they may cause relevant damages within the structure (e.g. delamination).
This technique is however expensive and not very accurate, because it does not indicate in real time the changes and the physical and mechanical conditions of the monitored structure.