RTC's materials analysis group works to keep warfighters safe

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (July 22, 2016) -- When aviation equipment fails, what could be more important than getting the equipment repaired and back working for our Soldiers? Failure analysis professionals would say, finding the root cause.

"Many think failure analysis is the process of finding out what component failed," said Jennifer Dennis, material analysis specialist with the Materials Lab Group at the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command's U.S. Army Redstone Test Center, or RTC. "Failure analysis is determining the initiation point and root cause of the failure. We want to know how and why it broke in order to keep our warfighters safe,"

With a state-of-the-art lab and up-to-date equipment, RTC team members work to uncover root cause issues from failure events and make recommendations on how to address these failures to prevent them from recurring.

"The problem could be a premature failure with a gear, or it could be a mechanical issue, like a part being installed improperly. It could be that field Soldiers need to be trained on proper maintenance of a piece of equipment," Dennis said. "We can accurately measure these things to determine what issue needs to be addressed."

While RTC has been doing the "tear-down" aspect of this work for over a decade, the materials group became part of RTC in April 2016. They work primarily with the rotor-wing aspect of aviation. Material analysis can include the investigation of all types of materials, such as metals, woods, polymers, etc. RTC's group works specifically with metals.

This materials group has great relationships with the platform offices, which leads to better problem solving. Members from the project office are able to visit RTC to witness testing or watch the tear-down process.

"Root-cause analysis is like crime scene investigation for aircraft. I love my job because I'm always doing something different and learning something new," Dennis said. "I enjoy the challenge."