ENGG409 Structural Integrity

Introduction to Module
and Fundamentals
Dr Will Christian
[email protected]
Harrison Hughes, 110
 But first

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Dr Will Christian
Mechanical Undergraduate Programme Director
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ENGG409 Structural Integrity

Introduction to Module
and Fundamentals
Dr Will Christian
[email protected]
Harrison Hughes, 110
 Outline

• Understanding and avoiding failure in structures

• Considering how we design for structural integrity

• Assessment requirements
• No exam
• Three small items of homework, 40%
• An individual report, 60%

6
 Technology Used

• All module content will be placed on Canvas

• All lectures will be recorded

• Announcements made through Canvas and email

• Any problems? Email me

• Suggestions are welcome

7
 Schedule
Week Activity Coursework
1 Introduction to Module and Fundamentals
2 Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Online
3 Linear-Elastic Fracture Mechanics NDE Test
4 Fatigue and Creep
5 Testing of Structures
May swap 6 Guest Lecture from UK Atomic Energy Authority Fracture
these two 7 Regulators, Elastic-Plastic Fracture Mechanics & Testing
8 Composite Materials Fracture Report
Easter Break (3 Weeks) Technical
9 Composites and Structural Health Monitoring Note
10 Coursework tips
11
No lectures, office drop-in sessions
12

8
 Assessments

• Online test about non-destructive evaluation

• Worth 10%, Due Week 3

• Online test on fracture, fatigue and structural testing

• Worth 10%, Due Week 7

• Technical note on fracture assessments

• Worth 20%, Due start of Week 9

• An individual report
• Worth 60%
• A case study on a significant failure
• An assessment of the structural integrity of a simple component
• Set Week 4, due at end of semester

9
 Who am I?

• My research is on how we
test aircraft structures

• I do a lot of work with

composite materials

• I use camera-based
techniques to measure
strain in components

10
 What I Do

11
 Importance of Safety

• Safety is expensive to design

• Neglecting safety always costs

manufacturers in the end

Cheaper to design simple control system

Cheaper to minimise testing

737 Deliveries
Cheaper to minimise pilot training

2 Crashes, 346 Dead

A320 Deliveries

12
 Continuing Woes of Boeing

• Door plug failure on

737 Max 9

• Likely
incorrectly
bolted panel

• Boeing’s
reputation
continues to
sink

Credits: US NTSB, Boeing, Reuters

13
 Cost of Safety

• To make structures safer we add material, i.e. more weight

If this goes up
Aerospace example:
𝐶𝐷
𝑡𝑠𝑓𝑐 ∙ ∙ 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡 = 𝑚ሶ 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙
𝐶𝐿

So must this

• Needs more energy during manufacture and more during service

• More energy = More cost & More environmental impact

14
 What is Structural Integrity?

Cost of manufacture
Cost of repairs
Cost of operation
Cost of failure
Cost of end-of-life

• Balance is achieved by designing for structural integrity, and

• Predicting when and how failure will occur

15
 What is Failure?

• No single accepted definition of “failure”

• Engineers must use judgment to determine when a

structure will no longer function as intended

• Consequences of failure are often more obvious than the

cause

16
 What Failed?

• 1989 Kegworth Air Disaster

• Fatigue crack in LP compressor

• Pilots shut down wrong engine

• Disasters often caused by series of

mishaps

17
 Three Routes Approach

STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY

Non-Destructive Damage tolerance Adequate strength &

Evaluation Providing many lifespan
Locates manufacturing opportunities to Ensures catastrophic
or service-induced locate and repair fracture load exceeds the
damage before failure any damage before largest applied service load
failure

The three routes work together to ensure integrity throughout

service
18
 Adequate Residual Strength

• Structures designed to take loads greater than maximum expected load

• Factors of safety are applied to these anticipated loads

• Wings tested to 150% of maximum

gust load

19
 Non-Destructive Evaluation

• Used to find defects that are hidden within structure.

• Sometimes called: Non-Destructive
Testing/Inspection/Characterisation

• NDE requirements are determined by the

loads and level of damage tolerance designed
into the structure

• All inspection techniques have limitations,

some defects will be missed.

20
 Damage Tolerance

• Failures are often caused by pre-existing manufacturing defects, or

service-induced damage

• Damage Tolerance is the ability to resist failure from damage for a given
period of time

• Level of tolerance required defines the requirements for non-destructive

testing
21
 Damage Tolerant Design

• Damage may result from manufacturing

or service induced degradation

• Desired time period of tolerance could

be:
• Service life
• Time between maintenance actions
B-17 after a mid-air • Period required to cease operation
collision

• Damage tolerance is used where failure

could result in catastrophic loss of life

22
 Manufacturing and Service Damage

• Damage can occur during

manufacturing
• Tool drops, cracks caused by incorrect
Failure rate

drilling etc…
Shakedown Steady state Wear-out

• Service damage can occur at any time

Time • Fatigue, impacts, creep

• Many structural components exhibit the typical ‘bathtub’ service life curve

23
 Manufacturing Damage
• Machining flaws:
• Gouges and tears
• Rough surfaces burrs
• Scratches at fastener holes or fillet • Material flaws:
locations • Porosity
• Improper tool usage • Inclusions
• Forging or casting defects
• Incomplete welds
• Surface condition:
• Residual stresses
• Rough handling,
• Permanent deformations
• Cracking from force fits
• Missing or damaged subcomponents.

24
 Manufacturing Damage in Aircraft

• F-111 suffered catastrophic failures

when introduced in 1969

• These grew from microscopic

forging defects in the pivots

• These defects were undetectable by

NDE and thus the component was
assumed flawless

25
 Service Damage
• Wear and tear:
• Corrosion
• Creep
• Improper maintenance can
• Fatigue
also cause damage
• Tool drops
• Other forms of abuse: • Incorrect procedures
• Overloads
• Thermal degradation
• Hydrogen embrittlement
• Fretting

26
 More Service Damage

• Foreign object damage (FOD) can appear in the form of:

-Hail damage.
-Bird strikes on aircraft.
-Accidental impacts (dropped tools).
-Uncontained engine bursts.
-Battle damage (military vehicles).

27
 Service Damage Example

• 1988 Aloha Airlines

Flight 243

• Aircraft made frequent short flights resulting in many pressurisation

cycles

• Failure occurred at row of rivets on fuselage skin

28
 Failure Modes

• The initial condition has influence on which failure modes will

dominate and limit structural performance.

• Expect that damage will develop and grow in service,

ultimately leading to failure

• Failure modes are varied and often change with service life
• This will now be reviewed

29
 Elastic Deformation

• Its important to determine changes in component

Yield Point dimensions caused by applied loads
Stress

Failure
• Most materials behave elastically, simplifying
𝜎 = 𝐸𝜀 predictions

Strain
• These deformations are controlled by the stiffness of
the material and are recoverable when the
component is unloaded

30
 Failure Caused by Elastic Deformation

• Elastic deformation can cause failure

indirectly

• Aeroelastic effects in aircraft and structures

can cause severe vibrations leading to
fatigue failure

• In machines deformation can result in

interference between moving parts

31
 Plastic Deformation

Ultimate • Beyond the yield point the material starts to

Strength deform permanently

• Most structures are designed to prevent

Stress

Failure
Yield yielding and thus plastic deformation provides
Point 𝜎 = 𝑓(𝜀) an additional level of safety.
Strain

32
 Buckling

• Occurs in slender members loaded

in compression or shear.
• Instability develops resulting in lateral
deflections, causing additional bending.
• Can occur at small elastic loads, controlled by:
stiffness, unsupported length, and component
cross-sectional moment of inertia.
• Can occur in upper wing skins in aircraft, building
support columns, etc…

33
 Creep

• Time dependent failure mode where material continues

to deform whilst under a constant load

• Creep is a concern for metal components at high

temperatures and high loads (e.g. turbine engine
blades).

• Some metals (e.g. lead) and many polymers creep at

room temperature

34
 Corrosion

• Degradation due to chemical attack

• Highly dependent on the material and environment,

often accelerated by increased temperature.

• Causes general thickness loss as well as stress

concentrations that lead to fatigue cracking or fracture.

• Is difficult to predict, and its prevention requires careful

materials selection, protective coatings, and periodic
maintenance

35, break
 Fatigue

• Fatigue is associated with repeated loading and is one

of the main factors that limits the life of mechanical
devices

Stress, 𝝈
• Pre-existing defects can fatigue
Time
Manufacturing
𝜎 Crack
Crack Length, 𝒂

Service Crack

𝑎 Crack Initiation

𝜎 Cycles, 𝑵

36
 Fatigue Characteristics

Fatigue failure of aircraft wing Striations are remnants of

outboard flap wing fitting crack tip position after each
cycle of loading.

37
 Fatigue Considerations

• Fatigue requires cyclic loading to occur. The number of cycles

before fracture depends on:
• Amplitude and mean stress
• Sequence of applied loads
• Component shape.
• Type of material

• Rough surfaces, notches, or material impurities can rapidly

initiate cracks
• Surface are machined to be very smooth

• Compressive residual stresses can be used to inhibit crack growth

• Shot peening, cold expansion of holes

38
 Fracture

• Catastrophic failure initiated at smaller loads by pre-existent

flaws (most often cracks)

• Brittle fracture, little evidence of plastic deformation. Is

particularly dangerous as it is often sudden with little warning.

• Ductile fracture requires considerable energy to plastically

deform the material

• Fracture resistance of a material is characterised by its

“fracture toughness“, a measurable quantity.

39
 Crack Length Affects Fracture
𝜎

Strength, 𝝈
Ultimate
𝑎
The stress required to fracture a
𝜎 Crack Length, 𝒂 tension member decreases
significantly with the presence of a
crack.

Due to high local stresses at crack

tip

40
 Three Routes Approach

STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY

Non-Destructive Damage tolerance Adequate strength &

Evaluation Providing many lifespan
Locates manufacturing opportunities to Ensures catastrophic
or service-induced locate and repair fracture load exceeds the
damage before failure any damage before largest applied service load
failure

41
 Non-Destructive Evaluation

• Non-destructive evaluation plays a key role in preventing

structural failures

• New structures are inspected to detect manufacturing flaws

that could cause immediate or premature failure
A car’s MOT test is
essentially a set of
• Repeated inspections during service are used to locate defects simple NDE tests
before they can grow and cause failure

42
 Non-Destructive Evaluation

• Main NDE techniques are:

• Visual

• Dye penetrant
• Magnetic particle

Y, (mm)
• Eddy current

• Ultrasonic
X, (mm)
• Radiography

43
 Non-Destructive Evaluation

• NDE methods have detectable size limits

• Successful NDE depends on:

• Selection of the correct technique
• Proper calibration and operation of test equipment
• Surface preparation
• Flaw shape
• Orientation
• Human factors

• NDE methods are always less effective when used in

the field than in ideal lab conditions

44
 Design for Structural Integrity

• Different approaches to designing for structural integrity

have been used over the past century

• The main four are:

• Infinite-Life Design
• Safe-Life Design
• Damage Tolerant Design
• Retirement for Cause

45
 Infinite-Life Design

• Some materials have a fatigue endurance limit, maximum

stress amplitude that doesn’t cause fatigue

• Component stresses are kept below the endurance limit for

the material

• Some materials, such as aluminium, don’t have an endurance

limit and may eventually fail at even very small cyclic loads

46
 Problems with Infinite-Life Design

• Surface damage can seriously affect endurance limits

• Residual stresses can cause fatigue even if loads are

below endurance limit

• Keeping stresses below endurance limit means extra

material
• Not appropriate for lightweight structures, e.g. aircraft

47
 Safe-Life Design

• 1960s approach that considers fatigue as a crack initiation

process.

• The average time until crack initiation is measured or predicted

and then divided by a factor of safety (typically 4)

• This safe-life time is used to define when the structure should

be scrapped

48
 Problems with Safe-Life Design

• Ignores the potential for undetected manufacturing defects

• Lead to the sudden failures in the F-111 wing pivots

• Lead to premature failures and thus a costly refit of the KC-135 aerial
refueler wing skins

49
 Damage Tolerant Design

• Damage tolerant design assumes the structure contains initial

cracks.

• The initial crack size is conservative and based on inspection

limits. Aircraft are not allowed to fly with known cracks

• Two general approaches:

• Slow Crack Growth
• Fail-Safe Design

50
 Slow Crack Growth

• Materials and allowable stress levels chosen so that pre-existent cracks will not
grow to failure

• Normal approach for single load path structure.

• The allowed service life is usually obtained by dividing the total crack growth
period by a factor (normally taken as 2)
Crack Length, 𝒂

Allowable life
• Structure is inspected at end of service life
before continued operation is permitted

Lifespan

51
 Fail-Safe Design

• If one part of the structure fails another adjacent part takes the load

• The initial failure must be detected as the adjacent part will fail much faster due to
higher loads

• Fail-safe design must be accompanied by a rigorous safety inspection routine

52
 Retirement for Cause

• Used to extend the lives of existing hardware that have reached their
theoretical life limits.

• Actual current damage state is established through rigorous non-

destructive evaluation.

Critical Crack Length

• Fracture mechanics predict the remaining service
Crack Length, 𝒂

Repaired life

Lifespan

53
 Recap
✓Three Routes Approach
1: Non-destructive Evaluation, 2: Damage Tolerance, 3: Adequate Strength

✓Main failure modes

Elastic/Plastic deformation, Buckling, Creep, Corrosion, Fatigue and Fracture

✓Non-destructive Evaluation

✓Structural Design Philosophies

Infinite-Life, Safe-Life, Damage Tolerant, Retirement for Cause

In the Hele-Shaw Lecture theatre in

the Harrison Hughes/Walker building
Next Time:
• Non-Destructive Evaluation
54