AERO 3465 AEROSPACE DESIGN 2 2023

FATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE ASSIGNMENT No 1

1 QUESTION 1: Life from SN Curves

Calculate the life of components given the alternating and mean stresses and Sn curves in Table 1.

SN curve Sa Sm units
Error! Reference source not
(a) 10 15 ksi
found.
(b) Figure 2 20 60 ksi
(c) Figure 3 20 10 ksi
(d) Figure 4 & Figure 5 (Detail 7) 20 46.7 MPa
(e) Figure 6 (Ftu = 825) 575 0 MPa

Table 1 SN Curves and Stresses

2 QUESTION 2: UC jack life

The critical component in an undercarriage retraction jack is a fitting made from 4340 steel, heat
treated to Ftu = 200 KSI.

At an ultimate jack load of 6000 lb, the maximum stress in the fitting is f = 160 KSI, at a location
where the stress concentration factor is Kt = 3.3.

The maximum jack loads during normal operation are:

Retraction 2500 lb
Extension 2000 lb
When the undercarriage is in the extended and retracted positions, the jack load is zero.

Assuming that the undercarriage is retracted and extended once per flight, and that the average flight
time is 0.65 hours, calculate the safe life (flight hours) of the fitting. Use SN data from Figure 2, and a
scatter factor from Table 2 for analysis.

[See Page 7 for Question 3]

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FATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE ASSIGNMENT No 1

DATA for Questions 1 and 2

References:

Advisory Circular AC23.13A, "Fatigue, Fail-Safe, and Damage Tolerance Evaluation of Metallic
Structure for Normal, Utility, Acrobatic, and Commuter Category Airplanes" (www.faa.gov)

AFS-120-73-2, "Fatigue Evaluation of Wing and Associated Structure on Small Airplanes"

http://aar400.tc.faa.gov/Programs/agingaircraft/commuter/AFS-120-73-2_examples.pdf
This is superseded by AC23-13A. It contains sample calculations for fatigue life.

An excellent book on fracture mechanics is:

Broek, D, "The Practical Use of Fracture Mechanics"

Software: AFGROW crack growth program from the US Air Force is widely used and accepted.
Current versions are expensive, but older versions could be downloaded free from the link below.
They may still be available.
http://www.siresearch.info/index.php

Scatter Factors

No of Test Specimens Required Scatter Factor

1 4.96
2 4.00
3 3.70
4 3.54
Analysis 8.0

Table 2 Safe Life Scatter Factors

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FATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE ASSIGNMENT No 1

Figure 1: SN Data from AC23-13A: (Note the scale on the N side starts at 10^3, then the next
big division is 10^4, then 10^5 etc.,.) Graph appears to be missing values in original FAA PDF

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FATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE ASSIGNMENT No 1

Figure 2 SN data, 4340 Steel, Kt = 3.3

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Figure 3 SN data - 7075-T6 Aluminium, Kt = 2.0

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FATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE ASSIGNMENT No 1

Figure 4 SN data - Aluminium AS-NZS 1664:2 1997

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FATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE ASSIGNMENT No 1

Figure 5 SN Aluminium AS-NZS 1664:2 - Mechanically fastened Detail Category

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Figure 6 General SN curve for steel (R=-1)

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FATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE ASSIGNMENT No 1

3 QUESTION 3: Life from Gust loads

A twin turboprop aircraft has the following characteristics:
W = 14000 lb
S = 444 ft^2
Vc = 180 knot
m = 0.085 / deg
Stress/g = 5500 + XXX lb/in2
Av flight time = 0.65 hours

XXX = LAST THREE DIGITS OF YOUR STUDENT ID TREATED AS A NUMBER

BETWEEN 0 and 999.

Calculate the fatigue life of the wing.

Assume:
• Assume flight is always carried out at Cruise Speed, “Vc”.
• Calculate damage due to gusts only, and factor for total life
• Gusts contribute 60% of the total damage.
• Divide the load spectrum into 10 levels.
• Use the gust data of Figure 8 and Figure 9 and the SN data of Figure 7.
• Additional information is in Section 3: “Data”.
• Per AC23.13A Page A1.3, Gust Velocity U=30 ft/sec.

DATA for Question 3

References:

Advisory Circular AC23.13A, "Fatigue, Fail-Safe, and Damage Tolerance Evaluation of Metallic
Structure for Normal, Utility, Acrobatic, and Commuter Category Airplanes"

AFS-120-73-2, "Fatigue Evaluation of Wing and Associated Structure on Small Airplanes"

This is superseded by AC23-13A. It contains sample calculations for fatigue life.

Scatter Factors

Table 3: Scatter Factors

No of Test Specimens Required Scatter Factor
1 4.96
2 4.00
3 3.70
4 3.54
Analysis 8.0

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FATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE ASSIGNMENT No 1

Figure 7: SN Data from AC23-13A: (Note the scale on the N side starts at 10^3, then the next
big division is 10^4, then 10^5 etc.,.) Graph appears to be missing values in original FAA PDF

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FATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE ASSIGNMENT No 1

Figure 8: Gust Data

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FATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE ASSIGNMENT No 1

Figure 9: Gust Frequency (Same data as Figure 2)

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