Effects of Operational Factors on Structural Fatigue in Fighter Aircraft

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Effects of Operational Factors on Structural Fatigue in Fighter Aircraft

Mangurian, George N. / Brooks, Philip D.

FATIGUE life of fighters, as discussed in this paper, is dependent on those variables which are a function of airplane mission characteristics and those which are a function of the operational environment.The first type of variable includes airplane design limit load factor, design range, combat and cruise altitude, and the basic kind of mission flown. The second class of variable includes gust loads, maneuver loads, landing-taxi loads, and the ground-air-ground cycle.This paper describes the fatigue damage caused by these factors in the flight histories of two hypothetical fighter aircraft.FATIGUE life of fighters, as discussed in this paper, is dependent on those variables which are a function of airplane mission characteristics and those which are a function of the operational environment.The first type of variable includes airplane design limit load factor, design range, combat and cruise altitude, and the basic kind of mission flown. The second class of variable includes gust loads, maneuver loads, landing-taxi loads, and the ground-air-ground cycle.This paper describes the fatigue damage caused by these factors in the flight histories of two hypothetical fighter aircraft.