Sensitivity Analysis of the C-130 Sensor Deployment System Arm Using Finite Element Methods 2004-01-3098

The purpose of this study was to optimize the current design of the roll-on, roll-off sensor deployment system support arm for the C-130 Hercules. The Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Guard (NG) will be using these sensor pallet systems in a variety of command and control configurations for counter narco-terrorism applications along with several other applications. The original design for the sensor deployment arm will be drawn using CAD, and then a Finite Element Analysis will be modeled and analyzed using Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/MECHANICA. This will show the stress concentrations and the areas where weight can be saved. The most concerning variable will be the height of the mechanical arm attachment. By decreasing that height, and shortening the mechanical arm, the moments will decrease, and the required torque will be less. This study uses a Finite Element Analysis of the current deployment system design of the C-130 Hercules within Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/MECHANICA; then re-designs the deployment system to decrease the weight and the power requirements of the initial layout. The contribution of this study is a lighter and safer deployment system that performs as well if not better than the original.