Avionics box cold plate damage prevention

Abstract

Over the years there have been several occurrences of damage to Space Shuttle Orbiter cold plates during removal and replacement of avionics boxes. Thus a process improvement team was put together to determine ways to prevent these kinds of damage. From this effort there were many solutions including, protective covers, training, and improved operations instructions. The focus of this paper is to explain the cold plate damage problem and the corrective actions for preventing future damage to aerospace avionics cold plate designs. SummaryThus this work will summarize the work that has been done to improve the human process for installing and removing avionics boxes on avionics shelves with cold plates for the Space Shuttle Orbiter. This work involves literature review of work performed at Kennedy Space Center for improving avionics box removal and installation, and discussions with expert operators and the process improvement team. The efforts from the process improvement team discovered several findings which resulted in many human factors related improvements. Although much was accomplished with this effort, there is still a need for better understanding the human capabilities for installing avionics boxes in restricted spaces such as in the avionics shelf. Abstract-Over the years there have been several instances of damage to Space Shuttle Orbiter cold plates during removal and replacement of avionics boxes. Thus, a process improvement team was created to determine ways to prevent this kind of damage.From this effort there were many solutions including, protective covers, training, and improved operations instructions. The focus of this paper is to explain the cold plate damage problem and the corrective actions for preventing future damage to aerospace avionics cold plate designs.