Aircraft corrosion and fatigue damage assessment

Aircraft corrosion and fatigue damage assessment

Wanhill, R.J.H.

National Aerospace Laboratory NLR

1994-09-14

This report reviews currently available information on corrosion and fatigue in aircraft as a background to discussing the assessment of corrosion and fatigue damage. The main topics are: * aircraft operating environments and loads * corrosion * fatigue * corrosion and fatigue * corrosion and fatigue damage assessment. Aircraft structures are susceptible to corrosion and fatigue damage, which concentrate at structural joints. There is a likelihood of interactions between corrosion and fatigue, especially as aircraft become older. However, it is uncertain whether in-service corrosion typically leads to fatigue cracking, and it is also difficult to be specific about the relations between the environments and load histories that the aircraft sees in service. There is a need for ad hoc investigations to determine the in-service environmental contributions to fatigue initiation and crack growth. Structural areas removed from ageing aircraft should be invaluable sources of information for these investigations. At present there is no established methodology for assessing the effects of corrosion on fatigue in order to estimate service lives and specify inspection intervals. This report suggests approaches to corrosion and fatigue damage assessment that are based on current methods of fatigue analysis.

Ageing (materials)
Aircraft structures
Aircraft maintenance
Corrosion prevention
Damage assessment
Durability
Environment effects
Fatigue (materials)
Fatigue life
Inspection
Service life
Short cracks

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c23c55b4-60c1-4c13-914c-b8a62721a2e2

Nationaal Lucht- en Ruimtevaartlaboratorium

Campus only

NLR Technical Publication TP 94401 U

Aerospace Engineering Reports

report

(c)1994 National Aerospace Laboratory NLR