Australian Work on Aircraft Fatigue and Life Evaluation: A Historical Review of Australian Research in Structural Fatigue and Life Assessment of Aircraft

Abstract

Fatigue of aircraft structures has become a major subject for research in the past ten years and the importance of establishing safe lifetimes for operation of aircraft or for replaceable structural components is now recognized. Some major contributions have been made to the knowledge of this subject, including methods of life assessment, determination of the fatigue resistance of several types of complete aircraft wing structure by laboratory test and some more fundamental studies of fatigue. The fatigue problem is considerably better understood than it was ten years ago and it can now be said with certainty where the most serious gaps lie. Information on two of these topics—namely, scatter, and the effect of random loading sequences—is being sought in the research programmes now proceeding at the Aeronautical Research Laboratories. Because of the vastness of the field a plea is made for greater inter‐change of information on the results of fatigue tests in all countries.

Citation

Hooke, F.H. and Langford, P.S. (1956), "Australian Work on Aircraft Fatigue and Life Evaluation: A Historical Review of Australian Research in Structural Fatigue and Life Assessment of Aircraft", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 28 No. 12, pp. 408-414. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb032771