CVMTM Frequently Asked Questions
Technology Overview
CVM™ Smart Sensor Solutions involves installing smart sensors to vulnerable airframe structure where damage is anticipated to occur. Using a PM200 hand-held diagnostics device, maintenance staff simply connect to the aircraft’s CVM™ sensor arrays to monitor and detect if surface imperfections exist or if there’s a loss in structural integrity.
CVM™ Smart Sensor Solutions is a more efficient and effective method of inspection than traditional Eddy current inspections because it doesn’t require maintenance personnel to physically gain access to hard-to-reach areas of an aircraft. CVM™ isn’t necessarily more accurate in detecting structural cracks than traditional methods, however, the use of the technology means airlines can avoid costly labor-intensive inspections at heavy and out-of-sequence checks and restore thousands of flight hours back to the network across entire commercial fleets each year.
Yes they can, but that is only relevant in a regulatory environment where “flying with cracks” is possible. That is not currently the case in commercial flying where if you detect a crack it has to be repaired before the aircraft can recommence service.
Technology Advantages
CVMTM Smart Sensor Solutions enables elevated inspection frequencies, with little to no impact on the day-to-day operations of aircraft fleets. It reduces false negative readings and removes the significant rework of and open-up for no crack verification and compliance.
Incorporating CVMTM Smart Sensor Solutions allows airlines to reduce their maintenance footprint and give significant ‘green time’ back to the operator without compromising on safety. It allows planning to connect to the aircraft without impacts to flight or maintenance operations and enhances the flexibility of high-frequency, low-impact inspections saving them time and enhancing efficiencies without sacrificing safety.
CVMTM Smart Sensor Solutions allows engineers to effectively mitigate the impact of future Service Bulletins, FCDs, and new fatigue areas with the sensors able to be designed and adapted to monitor almost any surface area of concern.
Put simply, using the CVMTM Smart Sensor Solutions to screen for cracks helps to remove the margin for human error in terms of safety checks as was the case recently when a tool was found inside the engine of an aircraft following a routine safety check. Using CVMTM Smart Sensor Solutions eliminates false negatives. It is a ‘go/no-go’ gauge when it comes to structures and virtually eliminates human error during inspections.
CVM™ Smart Sensors are an alternative for inspections that currently require an Eddy current inspection, either high (HFEC) or low (LFEC,) which requires physical application of a sensor. This is a form of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) but is not a visual inspection – mostly because the cracks being looked for are too small to be visible to the naked eye in the earliest stages of cracking.
CVM™ Smart Sensors significantly reduce the time and labor maintenance crews spend monitoring and inspecting airframes for cracks. In what used to take days in the hangar, with aircraft out of service for significant time periods, now takes just minutes at the gate and restores valuable flight hours back into the network.
Technology applications
We believe there is potential for use of CVMTM in certain military applications where the risk tolerance is greater – ie they are prepared to fly with a small crack, but need to know when it gets big enough to present a real danger. We are currently in the process of identifying other non-aerospace applications where that is also an advantage.
SMS is working towards identifying applications where CVM™ can be applied during manufacturing, but so far the overwhelming demand is for retrofitting existing aircraft for inspections that have been identified after the aircraft type enters operational service.
Many of the target applications are for components whose vulnerability to metal fatigue were underestimated in the initial design and manufacture, and which were identified after a relatively short period in operational service. When applied early enough, it makes our sensor solution valuable over the remaining life of the aircraft, even when the inspection intervals become longer.
Installations
Yes they have, and they continue to do so from their ever expanding fleet of aircraft now fitted with our sensors.
Testing
The process of identifying the next set of most valuable applications is currently underway, but requires significant time and resources to design, test and certify each application. Our team is currently small and focused on the APB program up until now. Further investment and subsequent allocation of resources will accelerate this process.