STRUCTURAL SCALE LIFE PREDICTION OF AERO STRUCTURES EXPERIENCING COMBINED EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
Abstract
Reusable high-speed air platforms are critical to the global reach and superiority of tomorrows USAF. These platforms experience long-duration, combined and intense, thermo-mechanical-acoustic loads over significant portions of their structure. Designing and fielding these platforms requires the capability to probabilistically assess the structural life under complex loading environments. Todays state of the art methods cannot address structural reliability under combined environment conditions due to inadequate understanding of the interactions between the various applicable material failure mechanisms and the continuously-evolving material/structural states. Lack of the necessary knowledge has resulted in significant repair and replacement costs for existing USAF platforms like the B-2 where zones of the aircraft are required to operate under combined, thermo-acoustic-mechanical loads. Current practices for margin prediction are rooted in analysts past experience, a heavy reliance on testing, and limited choices to tailor material attributes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1036190
Entities
People
- Ravinder C. Chona
- Thomas Iii G. Eason
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory