Application of fracture mechanics to aircraft structural safety

✍ Scribed by Howard A. Wood

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1975
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 787 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0013-7944
• DOI: 10.1016/0013-7944(75)90056-9

✦ Synopsis

Abatraet-Design

requirements have been developed to insure structural safety for current and future USAF aircraft. New structure is assumed to be flawed. Materials, stress levels and structural arrangements are chosen so as to prevent damage from growing to catastrophic size prior to detection. Safety from damage induced through service usage is insured by providing inspection capability and by meeting specific residual strength and safe crack growth requirements. Compliance with these requirements implies the capability to predict growth rates under complex loadings and to calculate the fracture strength of structures fabricated of relatively tough materials which may exhibit large amounts of crack tip plasticity prior to failure. This paper will review significant factors leading to the development of damage tolerance criteria and illustrate the rote of fracture mechanics in the analysis and testing aspects necessary IO satisfy these requirements.