NDT Planning for Fatigue Sensitive Structures Under Uncertainty

Abstract

Timely maintenance actions on deteriorating structures depend on the quality of the non-destructive testing (NDT) method. Damage detection with less delay can lead to less maintenance delay. The efforts to detect existing fatigue cracks and predict fatigue crack propagation reliably will contribute to reduce the damage detection delay, and furthermore to establish optimum maintenance and management strategies of fatigue sensitive structures. In this paper, a probabilistic approach for optimum NDT planning for deteriorating structures subjected to fatigue is presented. The optimum NDT plan is obtained by minimizing the expected damage detection delay. Uncertainties associated with fatigue damage occurrence / propagation and quality of the NDT are considered to formulate the damage detection delay. Effects of number and/or quality of the NDT on optimum planning are studied. The approach presented is illustrated using a realistic example of a fatigue sensitive structure.