28th Congress of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, 23 - 28 September 2012, Brisbane, Australia
Paper ICAS 2012-12.4.1

QUANTITATIVE FRACTOGRAPHY MARKERS FOR DETERMINING FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH RATES IN ALUMINIUM AND TITANIUM AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES

M. McDonald, R. Boykett, M. Jones*
DSTO, Australia; *QinetiQ, Australia

Keywords: metal fatigue, crack growth, fracture surface markers

The determination of fatigue crack growth rates in metallic airframes by quantitative fractography is pertinent for damage tolerance assessments. This has previously been unviable for Titanium because of its microstructure. Special ‘marker’ load-sequences were developed that create visible imprints on Titanium fracture surfaces – allowing crack growth rates to be determined.

view full paper