Table Of ContentSpringer Series in Computational Mechanics
Edited by S. N. Atluri
S. N. Atluri, S. G. Sampath, P. Tong
(Eds.)
Structural Integrity
of Airplanes
Aging
With 319 Figures
Springer-Verlag
Berlin Heidelberg New York
London Paris Tokyo
Hong Kong Barcelona Budapest
Editor of the series:
Prof. S. N. Atluri
Center for Computational Mechanics
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0356, USA
Editors of this volume:
Prof. S. N. Atluri
1. C. Hunsaker Visiting Professor
Aeronautics & Astronautics, Rm. 33-313
M.LT., Cambridge, MA 01239, USA
Dr. S. G. Sampath
Dr. Pin Tong
Transportation Systems Center
Structures and Dynamics Division
Kendall Square
Cambridge, MA 02142
ISBN-13: 978-3-642-84366-2 e-ISBN-13: 978-3-642-84364-8
001: 10.1007/978-3-642-84364-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Structural integrity of aging airplanes I [edited by] S. N. Atluri, S. G. Sampath, and P. Tong.
(Springer series in computational mechanics)
Papers presented at the International Symposium on Structural Integrity of Aging Airplanes, held
Mar. 20-22, 1990, in Atlanta, Ga., and sponsored by the Georgia Institute of Technology, Center for
Computational Mechanics and the Transportation Systems Centerofthe U.S. Dept.ofTransportation.
ISBN 978-3-642-84366-2
1. Airplanes--Reliability--Congresses. 2. Airframes--Fatigue--Congresses.
3. Aeronautics--Safety measures--Congresses.
I. Atluri, Satya N. II. Sampath, S. G. III. Tong, Pin.
IV. International Symposium on Structural Integrity of Aging Airplanes (1990 : Atlanta, Ga.)
V. Georgia Institute ofT echnology. Center for Computational Mechanics.
VI. Transportation Systems Center. VII. Series.
TL671.S58 1991
629.134'31--dc20 90-26077
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Preface
The emergence of civil aviation as a means of mass transportation is primarily due to the large
scale construction of jet airplanes in the past 30 years or so. A large number of these jet
airplanes is currently operating at or beyond their designed fatigue lives. Thus, the structural
integrity of these aging airplanes has become an issue of major concern to all nations of the
world.
To bring the needed technical and research focus on the issues involved in the life-enhancement
and safety-assurance of aging airplanes, the Federal Aviation Administration sponsored a
symposium in Atlanta, GA, USA, during 20-22 March 1990. This symposium, under the title
"International Symposium on Structural Integrity of Aging Airplanes· was organized jointly be
the Georgia Institute of Technology (Center for Computational Mechanics) and the
Transportation Systems Center (Cambridge, MA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Industrial and academic experts from several countries in North America, Europe and Asia,
were invited to discuss their experiences and proposed solutions. This monograph contains the
original papers that represent the expanded and edited versions of the talks presented at this
symposium.
This book aims to bring the collective experience, from across the world, with problems related
to the structural integrity of aging airplanes to the attention of the professional and research
community at large - in the hope that it may stimulate further fruitful research on this
important topic of global concern.
A synopsis of the contents of this monograph is as follows: In Chapter 1, Achenbach and
Thompson summarize the principal nondestructive evaluation techniques, their applications,
advantages and disadvantages. They also briefly discuss four major components of a quantitative
nondestructive evaluation program for aging aircraft. In Chapter 2, Atluri and Tong review
some simplified computational strategies for the integrity analysis of fuselage panels in aging
airplanes. Such topics as an alternating technique for multiple site damage near a row of
fasteners, bulging of cracks, analysis of cracks with bonded repair patches, are discussed. In
Chapter 3, Berens, Burns and Rudd discuss a computer based risk analysis tool for the decision
making process of scheduling inspection, repairs, replacement or retirement maintenance
actions on aging aircraft fleets.
In Chapter 4, Bristow discusses, from a regulatory viewpoint, such issues of aging aircraft, as:
Proof pressure testing, inspection reliability, effects of corrosion and definition of corrosion
inhibiting fluids, and implementation management of aging aircraft programs. In Chapter 5,
Broek presents a brief review of the damage tolerance requirements for civil aircraft, and of
their impact and significance for both newly developed and aging aircraft. In Chapter 6, Chubb,
Morad, Hockenhull and Bristow discuss the effects of prior exfoliation corrosion on the fatigue
behavior of two specific aluminum alloys - 7178-T6 and 2024-T351.
In Chapter 7, Cowie discusses, in depth, a damage tolerance approach for the management of
aging gas turbine engines. In Chapter 8, Dawicke, Poe, Newman and Harris present a generic
VI
analytical and experimental investigation related to the pressure proof test concept for a 2024-
T3 aluminum alloy sheet. In Chapter 9, Goranson and Miller focus their attention on the
principles of durability and damage tolerance technology standards suitable for large teams of
structural engineers; and provide some preventive maintenance recommendations that will
permit continued safe operation of aging jet transport until their retirement from service for
economic reasons.
In Chapter 10, Harris discusses the combination of a fatigue crack growth prediction
methodology and a nondestructive examination technology with the focus on multi-site damage at
riveted connections. In Chapter 11, Hendricks discusses the factors relating to the Aloha
Airlines accident which occurred on 28 April 1988 in the Hawaiian Islands. In Chapter 12,
Hoggard presents a manufacturer's approach to the design of longitudinal splices in a fuselage.
In Chapter 13, Ingraffea, Grigoriu and Swenson discuss issues related to the representation of a
number of arbitrarily growing cracks in a finite element model with codes built on a topological
data structure and employing automatics remeshing. In Chapter 14, Jones, Bridgeford, Wallace
and Molent discuss the topic of repairs to cracked fuselages using bonded composites, and discuss
the results of a test program which confirm the effectiveness of such a repair. In Chapter 15,
Kanninen, O'Donoghue, Green, Leung, Roy and Burnside focus on the conditions in which
inelastic-dynamic effects occur in the linking up of local damage in a lap splice to form a major
crack, and on the large-scale fuselage failure by a rapidly occurring fluid/structure
interaction process.
In Chapter 16, Kosai and Kobayashi discuss a model of axial rupture of an aircraft fuselage
based on the mechanisms of rapid crack propagation, crack curving, and arrest in a
pressurized, thin-walled ductile steel tube. In Chapter 17, Mar provides an interesting
personal perspective on structural integrity of aging airplanes, based on his many years of
experience in various high-level technical committees of the United States Government. In
Chapter 18, Mayville and Warren discuss a laboratory study of fracture in the presence of lap
splice multiple site damage.
In Chapter 19, Orringer presents a simple conceptual model for estimating the risk of multiple
site damage. In Chapter 20, Pelloux, Warren and O'Grady present a fractographic analysis of
initiation and growth of fatigue cracks at rivet holes. In Chapter 21, Roll, van Dalen and
Jongebreur review the philosophy developed at Fokker, with regard to structural maintenance,
in conjunction with Piedmont and USAir.
In Chapter 22, Samavedam, Hoadley and Davin describe a new test facility for evaluating the
fatigue and fracture strength of stiffened and jointed aircraft fuselage panels. In Chapter 23,
Sam path and Broek address issues concerning the probability of detection of multi-site damage
in fuselage lap-splices in aging airplanes. Their results indicate that reduction in the mandated
period between inspections should be considered. In Chapter 24, Schmidt presents a summary
of the evaluation methodologies applied for pressurized fuselages of the Airbus.
In Chapter 25, Selikhov, Raikher, Leibov and Nesterenko present the Soviet experience in
specifying and prolonging the airframe time limit; and provide an insight into the Soviet
approach wherein the airframe is considered as an aging one from the beginning of the aircraft
fleet service. In Chapter 26, Smith presents an overview of the optical methods of stress
analysis applied to cracked components. In Chapter 27, Swift presents a very comprehensive
VII
summary of the procedures of repairs to damage tolerant aircraft. He presents the results of a
displacement compatibility analysis representing a variety of repair doubler and lap splice
configurations, and illustrates how structural repairs can degrade the fatigue initiation life and
damage tolerance capability of the primary transport aircraft structure. In Chapter 28, Terada
and Ohtsuka present a case study, a simulation of fatigue damage and damage tolerance evaluation
of aging aircraft, based on a review of research in Japan.
The editors thank all the authors for their timely cooperation in preparing their respective
chapters in this volume. The editors also thank Ron Allen (Delta Airlines), Ben Cosgrove
(Boeing Aircraft Co.), and Nelson Miller (Federal Aviation Administration, Technical Center)
for their contributions to the organization of the symposium, on which this volume is based.
Finally, it is a pleasure to acknowledge the untiring efforts of Ms. Brenda Bruce, of the
Computational Mechanics Center at Georgia Tech, in not only organizing the symposium, but also
in putting this volume together.
July 1990 Satya N. Atluri
Atlanta, Cambridge and Hong Kong Sam G. Sampath
Pin Tong
VIII
Professor James W. Mar
A Dedication
Professor James W. Mar was born in Oakland, California, on 10 March 1920.
He received his S.B. (1941), S.M. (1947) and Sc.D. (1949), all from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was head of the Structural Test
Section at Curtiss Wright Corp. during 1941-44; and has been on the faculty of
Aeronautics and Astronautics at M.I.T. since 1950. In 1990 he retired from
M.i.T. as the Jerome Clarke Hunsaker Professor of Aerospace Education.
He was Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force during 1971-72; a Member of the
U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and heads the Task Group on Aging
Aircraft for FAA. He received the Structures, Structural Dynamics and
Materials Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics in
1987.
In recognition of his many contributions to the technology of structural design
for longevity of airplanes, this volume is dedicated to Professor James W. Mar.
Satya N. Atluri Pin Tong
Sam G. Sampath Hong Kong
Cambridge, MA
Sept. 1990
Table of Contents
1 . Towards Quantitative Non·Destructive Evaluation of Aging
Aircraft
J.D. Achenbach and D.O. Thompson
2. Computational Schemes for Integrity Analyses of Fuselage 15
Panels in Aging Airplanes
S.N. At/uri and P. Tong
3. Risk Analysis for Aging Aircraft Fleets 37
A.P. Berens, J.G. Burns and J.L. Rudd
4. Aspects of Aging Aircraft: A TransAtlantic View 53
J. W. Bristow
5. The Civil Damage Tolerance Requirements in Theory and 73
Practice
D. Broek
6. The Effect of Exfoliation Corrosion on the Fatigue Behavior 87
of Structural Aluminum Alloys
J.P. Chubb, T.A. Morad, B.S. Hockenhull and J.W. Bristow
7. A Damage Tolerance Approach for Management of Aging Gas 99
Turbine Engines
W.O. Cowie
8. An Evaluation of the Pressure Proof Test Concept for 115
2024·T3 Aluminum Alloy Sheet
D.S. Dawicke, C.C. Poe, Jr., J.C. Newman, Jr., and C.E. Harris
9. Aging Jet Transport Structural Evaluation Programs 131
U.G. Goranson and M. Miller
10. NASA Airframe Structural Integrity Program 141
C.E. Harris
XI
11. The Aloha Airlines Accident - A New Era for Aging Aircraft 153
W.R. Hendricks
12. Fuselage Longitudinal Splice Design 167
A W. HogganJ
13. Representation and Probability Issues In the Simulation of 183
Multi-Site Damage
AR. Ingraffea, M.D. Grigoriu and D. V. Swenson
14. Bonded Repair of Multi-Site Damage 199
R. Jones, N. Bridgeford, G. Wallace and L. Molent
1 5. Applications of Advanced Fracture Mechanics to Fuselage 213
M.F. Kanninen, P.E. O'Qonoghue, S. T. Green, C.P. Leung,
S.Roy and O.H. Burnside
16. Axial Crack Propagation and Arrest In Pressurized Fuselage 225
M. Kosai and AS. Kobayashi
17. Structural Integrity of Aging Airplanes: A Perspective 241
J.W. Mar
1 8. A Laboratory Study of Fracture in the Presence of Lap Splice 263
Multiple Site Damage
R.A. Mayville and T. A. Warren
19. How Likely is Multiple Site Damage? 275
O. Orringer
20. Fractographic Analysis of Initiation and Growth of Fatigue 293
Cracks at Rivet Holes
R. Pelloux, A Warren and J. O'Grady
21. Results of Review of Fokker F28 "Fellowship" Maintenance 309
Program
R. Roll, A van Dalen and A.A. Jongebreur
