Usage Spectrum Perturbation Effects on Helicopter Component Fatigue Damage and Life-Cycle Costs

Abstract

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) operates rotary and fixed-wing aircraft in a different manner from the way that the aircraft manufacturers envisaged. That is, the usage spectra of the ADF aircraft are different from the usage spectra assumed by the aircraft manufacturer during design. The effects of perturbing the amount of time spent in flight conditions on both component fatigue damage and life-cycle costs are investigated in this report. An "amplification factor" is developed, which allows the effect of varying the amount of time spent in different flight conditions on both damage and cost to be determined. These amplification factors give both qualitative ('importance' ordering) and quantitative (sensitivity) information regarding all flight conditions. The resulting procedure is both easy to implement and use, and allows the operator to determine the effects of different spectra on both damage and cost. The outlined procedures will lead to cost savings and safety improvement for the ADF for both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADA385730

Entities

People

  • Frank G. Polanco

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • C4I
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Australia
  • Birds
  • Department Of Defense
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Fatigue Life
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Helicopters
  • Level Flight
  • Life Cycle Costs
  • Life Cycles
  • Mathematical Models
  • Models
  • Rotary Wing Aircraft
  • Test And Evaluation

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis