Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.12989/sem.2004.17.1.029

Crack growth life model for fatigue susceptible structural components in aging aircraft  

Chou, Karen C. (Department of Mechanical & Civil Engineering, Minnesota State University)
Cox, Glenn C. (Lockwood Greene Engineers)
Lockwood, Allison M. (Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee)
Publication Information
Structural Engineering and Mechanics / v.17, no.1, 2004 , pp. 29-50 More about this Journal
Abstract
A total life model was developed to assess the service life of aging aircraft. The primary focus of this paper is the development of crack growth life projection using the response surface method. Crack growth life projection is a necessary component of the total life model. The study showed that the number of load cycles N needed for a crack to propagate to a specified size can be linearly related to the geometric parameter, material, and stress level of the component considered when all the variables are transformed to logarithmic values. By the Central Limit theorem, the ln N was approximated by Gaussian distribution. This Gaussian model compared well with the histograms of the number of load cycles generated from simulated crack growth curves. The outcome of this study will aid engineers in designing their crack growth experiments to develop the stochastic crack growth models for service life assessments.
Keywords
crack growth; fatigue; aging aircraft; response surface method; central limit theorem; structural reliability; Gaussian distribution; statistical analysis; Kolmogorov-Smirnov test; point estimate method;
Citations & Related Records

Times Cited By Web Of Science : 2  (Related Records In Web of Science)
Times Cited By SCOPUS : 2
연도 인용수 순위
1 Ang, A.H-S. and Tang, W.H. (1975), Probability Concepts in Engineering Planning and Design, 1, New York, John Wiley & Sons.
2 Bannantine, J.A., Comer, J.J. and Handrock, J.L. (1990), Fundamental of Metal Fatigue Analysis, New York, Prentice Hall.
3 Benjamin, J.R. and Cornell, C.A. (1970), Probability, Statistics and Decision for Civil Engineers, New York, McGraw Hill.
4 Box, G.E.P. and Wilson, K.B. (1951), "On the experimental attainment of optimum conditions", Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Ser. B, 13, 1-45.
5 Chou, K.C. (1998), "Reliability assessment model for aging aircraft" preliminary report to Structures Division, Navy Air Station, Patuxent River, MD, part of Navy-ASEE Summer Faculty Program.
6 Cox, G.C. (2000), "Probabilistic fatigue crack growth analysis using response surface methodology", Master Thesis, University of Tennessee.
7 Harr, M.E. (1987), Reliability Based Design in Civil Engineering. New York: McGraw Hill.
8 Myers, R.H., Khuri, A.I. and Carter, W.H. Jr (1989), "Response surface methodology: 1966-1988". Technometrics 31(2), 137-157.
9 Rajashekhar, M.R. and Ellingwood, B.R. (1993), "A new look at the response surface approach for reliability analysis", Structural Safety, 205-220.
10 Rosenblueth, E. (1975), "Point estimates for probability moments", Proc. of National Academy of Science, U.S.A., 72(10), 3812-3814.   DOI   ScienceOn
11 Rosenblueth, E. (1981), "Two point estimate in probability", Applied Math. Modelling, 5, 329-335.   DOI   ScienceOn
12 Wirsching, P.H. (1983), "Statistical summaries of fatigue data for design purposes", NASA Contractor Report 3697, NASA Lewis Research Center.
13 Yang, J.N., Hsi, W.H. and Manning, S.D. (1985), "Stochastic crack propagation with applications to durability and damage tolerance analyses", Technical Report, Flight Dynamics Lab., AFWAL-TR-85-3062.
14 Yang, J.N. and Manning, S.D. (1996), "A simple second order approximation for stochastic crack growth analysis", Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 53(5), 677-686.   DOI   ScienceOn