AFRL sustainment activities

Capt. Allison Dempsey, Air Force Research Laboratory Aerospace Systems Directorate deputy branch chief, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, prepares for an experiment using the Structural Health Monitoring Test Bed. The SHM Test Bed enables AFRL researchers to investigate the performance of emerging instrumentation technologies for sensing fatigue cracking and strain in aircraft structures. In this experiment, a beam-like structure is being used as an analog for real aircraft structures. New instrumentation technologies will enable improved characterization of damage state and usage in aircraft structures. "The technology options AFRL provides give our warfighters an advantage on the battlefields of today and tomorrow,” said AFRL commander Maj. Gen. Thomas Masiello. “Those options help ensure we are on the right side of an unfair fight against America's adversaries, and it's our mission to keep it that way.” (Air Force photo by Michele Eaton)