SEDL / STP / STP798-EB / STP33217S

Method for Determining Probability of Structural Failure from Aircraft Counting Accelerometer Tracking Data

Larson, CE
Technical project manager and reliability engineering specialist, Vought Corporation, Dallas, Tex.

Shawver, WR
Technical project manager and reliability engineering specialist, Vought Corporation, Dallas, Tex.

Pages: 13    Published: Jan 1983

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Abstract

This study develops a methodology that puts the aircraft's stress at critical or reference locations on a probability basis that includes the variability effects of Mach number, altitude, and gross weight. The stress variation due to these variables is then handled probabilistically and applied to the material's cycles to failure (S-N curve) variation to obtain a fatigue life expended (FLE) probability distribution. This FLE probability distribution may be used to derive FLE values that can be expected for the aircraft instead of the single high conservative value that is now being calculated.