International. A PhD student became the first woman to win the Australia Limited Industry Innovation Award for her work on a project to improve aircraft safety and reduce maintenance costs.
The Lussini Project is being carried out by the Defense Materials Technology Center, focusing on the use of organic compounds to develop sensors to alert maintenance teams when sections of an aircraft have to repainte before mechanical stress, direct sunlight, variable temperatures, water, Salt and other pressures cause dangerous corrosion resulting in potentially catastrophic failure.
"Corrosion is like a cancer for metal, and the paint acts as a sunscreen that must be reapplied before the structural integrity of an aircraft is compromised," said Lussini, who was at Avalon to accept his award.
"It's very important to know when to repaint an airplane, but we can also paint them too often, simply because they're programmed to be done and each new layer adds weight."
"Often, only certain sections need to be painted because they are more exposed and degrade faster. Or one plane is used every day and another sits in a hangar for long periods.
