22nd Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Harrogate, UK, 28 August - 1st September, 2000
Paper ICAS 2000-4.4.2

EFFECT OF AIRCRAFT FAILURES ON USAF STRUCTURAL REQUIREMENTS

J. W. Lincoln
United States Air Force, USA

Keywords: fatigue, damage tolerance, widespread fatigue damage

Structural failures in both commercial and military aircraft have been the primary factor that has changed rules and specifications that engineers use for design. In many cases, the failures have identified threats to structural integrity that were not previously identified by the certification authorities. Commercial failures have influenced the military specifications and the military failures have influenced the commercial aircraft rules. The experience derived from the individual failures is used to describe the lessons learned and to illustrate the evolution of structural criteria that the United States Air Force (USAF) uses for procurement of new aircraft.

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