โ Scribed by L. Molent; R. Jones
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
A fatigue test program was conducted to investigate m&i-site damage of commerical wide-bodied aircraft fuselage lap joints. Crack growth data were generated using specimens representative of a typical lap joint. It was also demonstrated that a boron/epoxy composite doubler, bonded over the joint, could significantly increase the fatigue life of such structures.
IN RECENT times the phenomenon of multi-site damage (MSD) in structures has received a great deal of attention. The consequence of the undetected presence of MSD was dramatically illustrated through the in-flight failure of a fuselage lap joint on an Aloha B-737 aircraft on 28th April 1988. Essentially this failure occurred due to numerous small cracks along a fastener line linking together, causing the residual strength of the fuselage to be exceeded under p~ssu~ation.
This incident resulted in several committees being established to investigate the airworthiness of ageing commercial aircraft, with particular emphasis on MSD. In this light, ARL was encouraged by the Federal Aviation Administration (U.S.A.) and the Australian Civil Aviation Authority to investigate the feasibility of applying advanced bonding technology to the repair or life enhancement of commercial aviation structures containing MSD. In the military aviation scene ARL has pioneered the use of bonded repairs to fatigue and stress corrosion
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