The influence of corrosion on reliability and inspection program for fatigue‐prone airframe structures

Abstract

This paper is devoted to a discussion and solution of the following problems: Determination of mean value and variance of estimates of parameters of fatigue crack growth model for both the corroded and non‐corroded types of specimens; Inspection modeling with the use of the Monte Carlo method for calculation of probability of fatigue failure as a function of inspection number; Determination of the number of inspections required for the limitation of fatigue failure probability; Comparison of required reliability for corroded and non‐corroded cases. Special programs have been developed for necessary calculations. It was confirmed that the influence of corrosion has a great impact on the required number of inspections.

First Published Online: 14 Oct 2010

Keyword : fatigue crack growth, corrosion medium, failure probability, inspection program and specified life