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Airframe Fatigue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

L. P. Coombes
L. P. Coombes*
Affiliation:
Aeronautical Research Laboratories, Commonwealth of Australia
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Extract

The Journal in which Mr. W. Tye's Second Barnwell Lecture has been published (“ The Outlook on Airframe Fatigue,” May 1955 Journal) has now reached Australia. I felt that some comment was called for when I discovered that Mr. Tye had not mentioned the work done in Australia on the life of aircraft structures.

What I believe to be the facts are as follows. Australian concern regarding fatigue was awakened in January 1945, when a Stinson air liner VH-UYY crashed with the loss of ten lives. The analysis made by the C.S.I.R. Aeronautical Research Laboratory confirmed that it was caused by a fatigue failure in the welded tube of the primary wing structure.

Mr. H. A. Wills, in charge of structural and metallurgical research at the Laboratory, initiated a programme of fatigue tests on actual aircraft wings, designed to give factual answers to the problem of determining the safe life of aircraft structures. The basic idea that this could be done had been suggested in a paper by Bland and Sandorf0, and the Stinson accident provided the necessary urge.

Type
Technical Notes
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 59 , Issue 538 , October 1955 , pp. 701 - 702
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1955

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References

1. Bland, R. B. and Sanderf, P. E. (1943). The Control of Life Expectancy in Airplane Structures. Aeronautical Engineering Review, Vol. 2, August 1943.Google Scholar
2. Johnstone, W. W. (1946). Review of Current Methods of Strength Testing of Aircraft Wings. Report ACA.28, September 1946.Google Scholar
3. Johnstone, W. W. (1947). Static and Repeated Load Tests on Mosquito Wings. C.S.I.R. Report SM.104, September 1947.Google Scholar
4. Johnstone, W. W., Patching, C. A., and Payne, A. O. (1950). An Experimental Determination of the Fatigue Strength of CA-12 Boomerang Wings. Department of Supply A.R.L. Report SM.160, September 1950.Google Scholar
5. Kepert, J. L. and Payne, A. O. (1955). Interim Report on Fatigue Characteristics of a Typical Metal Wing. Department of Supply, A.R.L., Report SM.207, January 1955.Google Scholar
6. Wills, H. A. (1948). The Life of Aircraft Structures. Journal of Institution of Engineers, Australia, Vol. 20, No. 10, p. 145, October 1948.Google Scholar
7. Wills, H. A. (1949). The Life of Aircraft Structures. Second International Aeronautical Conference, New York, May 1949. Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences.Google Scholar
8. Hooke, F. H. (1952). Preliminary Note on the Fatigue Life of an Aeroplane Constructed of High Strength Aluminium Alloy under Australian Operating Conditions. Department of Supply, A.R.L., Technical Memorandum SM.28, January 1952.Google Scholar