J.G. Bakuckas, A. Carter

Teardown inspections and extended fatigue testing are an effective means to determine the structural integrity of high-time, high-usage aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) have teamed to perform teardown inspection and extended fatigue testing of a retired Boeing B727 aircraft near its design service goal of 60,000 flight cycles. Eleven fuselage panels were removed from the aircraft. Detailed inspections, using both conventional and emerging nondestructive inspection (NDI) methods, were made before and after the removal of the sections. Seven panels will be destructively evaluated to characterize the state of multiple-site damage (MSD) and multipleelement damage using fractographic examinations. A teardown procedure was developed to disassemble joints and reveal fracture surfaces at fasteners for damage characterization. Crack information obtained from the destructive evaluations was used to assess the capability of many NDI methods to find small hidden cracks. For the remaining four panels, the state of MSD will be advanced through extended fatigue testing using the FAA Full-Scale Aircraft Structural Test Evaluation and Research facility and continuously assessed through both conventional and emerging NDI methods. Extended fatigue testing will provide data to enable calibration and validation of predictive methodologies for structural fatigue and will serve as a test bed to evaluate the sensitivity and effectiveness of standard and emerging NDI to detect small cracks. This project will provide data to support guidelines in developing and assessing programs for continued airworthiness of the aging commercial fleet. This paper reports on the major activities for this project.

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.229-240; 2005; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V., Bonn

NA

cracks, fractography, nondestructive inspection

Bestellbar

2005