FATIGUE LIFE ESTIMATION OF REAR FUSELAGE STRUCTURE OF AN AIRCRAFT

Abstract

Integrity of the airframe structure is achieved through rigorous design calculations, stress analysis and structural testing. Finite element method (FEM) is widely used for stress analysis of structural components. Each component in the airframe becomes critical based on the load distribution, which in-turn depends on the attitude of the aircraft during flight. Fuselage and wing are the two major components in the airframe structure. The current study includes a portion of the fuselage structure. Empennage is the rear portion of the aircraft, which consists of rear fuselage, Horizontal tail and vertical tail. The air loads acting on the HT also get transferred to rear portion of the fuselage. First step in ensuring the safety of the structure is the identification of critical locations for crack initiation. This can be achieved through detailed stress analysis of the airframe In this project one of the major stress concentration areas in the fuselage is considered for the analysis. Rear fuselage portion with a cargo door cutout region will be analysed. The structure considered for the stress analysis consists of skin, bulkheads and longerons, which are connected to each other through rivets. Aerodynamic load acting on the aircraft components is a distributed load. Depending on the mass distribution of the fuselage structure the inertia forces will vary along the length of the fuselage. The inertia force distribution makes the fuselage to bend about wing axis. During upward bending, bottom portion of the fuselage will experience tensile stress. A cutout region in the tensile stress field will experience high stress due to concentration effect. These high stress regions will be probable fatigue crack initiation locations in the current work, fatigue damage calculation will be carried out to estimate the fatigue life of the structure under the fluctuating loads experienced during flight. Miner’s rule will be adopted for fatigue damage calculation.