An evaluation of fatigue life for aging aircraft structure

Abstract

Aging aircraft structures are inevitably exposed to environment for a long time facing many potential problems, including corrosion and wide spread fatigue damage, which in turn cause the degradation of flight safety. In this study, the environmental surface damages on aging aircraft structures induced during service were quantitatively analyzed. Additionally, S-N fatigue tests were performed with center hole specimens extracted from aging aircraft structures. From the results of quantitative analyses of the surface damages and fatigue tests, it is concluded that corrosion pits initiated during service reduce the fatigue life significantly. Finally, using the fracture mechanics and the EIFS (equivalent initial flaw size) concepts, the remaining fatigue life was predicted based on actual fatigue test results. ? Materials Research Society of Korea, All rights reserved.