Fatigue issues in aircraft maintenance and repairs

Many design considerations are involved in ensuring structural integrity of Boeing jet transports, which have common design features validated by extensive analyses, tests, and service performance. Designing for continued structural integrity in the presence of damage such as fatigue or corrosion is an evolutionary process. Performance demands, increasing structural complexity, and aging fleet reassessments have required development of standards suitable for application by large teams of engineers. This presentation is focused on such methods with special emphasis on practical fatigue reliability considerations. Durability evaluations are based on quantitative structural fatigue ratings which incorporate reliability considerations for test data reduction and fleet performance predictions. Fatigue damage detection assessments are based on detection reliability estimates coupled to damage growth and residual strength evaluations. Data are presented to airline operators on detection check forms which permit efficient maintenance planning to achieve required fatigue damage detection reliability levels. (C) 1998 The Boeing Company. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.