U. Mariani, M. Vicario

The application of fatigue and flaw tolerance requirements to a rotorcraft structure, as prescribed by the current Civil Rule 29.571 since Amendment 28, was fully accomplished by AgustaWestland with the Type Certification of the AB139 Twin Engine Medium Helicopter that was achieved in June 2003. This paper presents an overview of the fatigue qualification process, starting from a detailed "threat assessment", which is intended to define the helicopter damage scenario, to the establishment of retirement times and/or inspection intervals aimed at avoiding catastrophic failure of the principal structural elements even in presence of flaws. The paper describes some of the different criteria and approaches that were adopted for each structure depending upon the material selected, the design features, the type of installation, the inspectability characteristics and the type of loads. Some practical application cases to Main Rotor and Tail Rotor components are also presented.

23rd ICAF Symposium of the international Committee on Aeronautical Fatique, 2005, Hamburg

Conference Paper

englisch

A5, 12 Seiten

DGLR-Bericht, 2005, 2005-03, 23rd ICAF Symposium of the international Committee on Aeronautical Fatique - Proceedings; S.55-66; 2005; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V., Bonn

NA

helicopters, damage tolerance, fatigue

Bestellbar

2005