Piper Tomahawk trainer aircraft wing (aluminium)

Key Contact: Rob Barthorpe

The Piper Tomahawk wing is used as a testbed for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) activities. It features removable inspection panels which allow simulation of the effects of damage in a repeatable way, either through complete removal of the panels or through introducing damage in situ. The ability to demonstrate novel SHM techniques using realistic structures of this type is a crucial step in evaluating their validity.