Failure Analysis/Engineering Test Group element
Broach said the 802nd’s failure analysis lab is the only one of its kind in the entire Air Force.
The lab does much more than figuring out why equipment fails. It does engineering tests, Non-Destructive Inspection training and qualification; and planning, scheduling and lab support.
This laboratory performs testing of material hardness and tensile, as well as G-force testing. It utilizes analytical techniques such as Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis.
The lab’s engineering test and analysis capabilities include environmental stress testing, unique mechanical/electrical testing, fatigue testing, first article support and prototype manufacture.
The laboratory features a complete machine shop. Various fixtures to support engineering tests can be developed on the spot, greatly reducing testing and re-work time.
Broach said the failure analysis lab does a lot of testing on “coupons,” which usually are samples of metal pieces that need to be tested for factors such as strength, size or dimension.
An exemplary case being handled in the Failure Analysis element came to Robins from Shaw AFB, S.C., home of the 20th Fighter Wing and three F-16CM Fighting Falcon squadrons.
Daniel Doak, a U.S. Air Force Reserve major and a mechanical engineer in the failure analysis materials flight, said personnel at Shaw AFB discovered some training missile fins were missing and found the parts on the ground. Doak’s job was to study the fins and determine what caused the parts to come off the missiles and, importantly, why the same fin came off three separate missiles.
Doak said he was attempting to speculate the cause of failure by studying the makeup of the part and verifying its material properties. His aim is to determine if it was an isolated incident, if further inspections of the missile inventory are necessary, or if the parts needed to be removed or replaced.
“So I’m going for the root cause,” Doak said.
The engineer said safety, efficiency and costs are among the most important aspects of the analysis work he performs.
Hunter provided another example of the failure analysis lab’s special capabilities. Explosive Atmosphere Testing is done in the Tinney 4D5 explosive atmosphere chamber. It proves devices like medical lights or electronic equipment onboard an aircraft can operate in a fuel-rich environment without causing an explosion.
Chemical Lab
Setting the chemical lab apart from the other two 802nd flight elements is the visual presence of ages-old laboratory stereotypes – lab coats and beakers. The use of such old-school lab gear is part of a story of consistency in analytical excellence that dates back to the 1950s.
Bruce Bundrick, an Air Force shelf life executive agent in the 802nd MXSS, said the area between buildings 110 and 125 is the second oldest facility on base.
The chemical lab’s core capability is in classical wet chemistry, which includes maintenance support analysis of fuels, hydraulic fluid, plating shop elements, industrial oil, and C-130 propeller foam density.
Beyond wet chemistry, the lab also specializes in a wide array of analytical capabilities and techniques. Some of those include polarized light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with elemental analysis, X-ray fluorescence, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma, and thermal analysis.
Laura Preiss, a chemist, said much of the chemical lab’s work is done in “direct support of getting aircraft out the door.”
Some examples of the work done for the complex maintenance mission are:
- The lab tests compressed breathing air apparatus used for operations like the aircraft paint/depaint shop.
- OSHA swipe testing for particulate contamination to surfaces is conducted by the lab to monitor worker exposure to hazardous chemicals in areas where grinding is done.
- Joint Oil Analysis Program (JOAP) tests are done on aircraft engine oil post flight. The analysis ensures flight safety by checking for metals in the oil.
- The lab utilizes a Salt Spray Chamber, testing corrosion on parts by simulating exposure to salt atmosphere and aging.
Preiss said the chemical lab’s extensive abilities are often a surprise to others. “We always show up for a meeting somewhere and get folks who say, ‘Oh, can you do this?’ and the answer is often, ‘Yes, or we can get one of our other labs to do it’.”
Bundrick said the lab does work for customers DoD-wide and contractors, which are typically DoD connected. He, too, espoused the ER comparison.
“We’re like the emergency room,” Bundrick said. “You must have excess capacity that’s avaliable so when an emergency hits, you can take care of it. The customer can’t wait.”
Max Hetzer, a chemist/chemical engineer known by his colleagues as “The Doctor,” said the chemical lab can do the work of contractors in rapid time “depending on the complexity of the samples.” He said the team there is capable of a three-day average turnaround on “basically anything that comes to the lab.”
“We’re pretty much customer focused, and that’s how it’s supposed to be,” Bundrick said. “We have to take care of the customer. Sometimes that’s telling the customer something they don’t know.
“It sounds cliché and everybody says it,” Bundrick said, “but at the end of the day I’m doing my little piece of the puzzle so someone out there working in hazardous conditions can get their job done.”
Editor's note: The original story can be viewed on the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson website.