Sponsors: Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing Aircraft, and Arizona State University
ASU is a part of the FAA-supported Center of Excellence for Airworthiness Assurance, that also includes Iowa State, Ohio State, UCLA, Northwestern, Maryland, Dayton and Wichita State Universities. The center has been set up to address many of the aircraft safety issues such as non-destructive testing of aircraft materials/structure, composites, and fuel systems. ASU currently is getting started on the fuel system safety research.
For this research, fuel vapor dynamics and ignition are being investigated in a static and a dynamic test facilities. Diagnostics include laser-induced fluorescence imaging using an intensified CCD and Gas Chromatography.