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PROPERTIES OF METALS
9.4 Aluminium alloys
Pure aluminium has a tensile strength around 50 MPa but this can be increased perhaps tenfold by alloying plus thermal treatment and/or mechanical working. The major alloying elements are manganese Mn!" magnesium Mg!" copper #u!" $inc %n! and silicon &i!. These attributes of alloying" heat treatment and cold working produce a selection of the most 'ersatile and easily formed materials a'ailable to the homebuilder. (hen pure aluminium surfaces are e)posed to the atmosphere" a thin in'isible o)ide skin forms" permanently protecting the metal from further o)idation* this resistance to normal atmospheric corrosion also applies to the alloys. +owe'er" there are other types of corrosion and the alloys, resistance to these depend on the alloying elements* see the section on ,corrosion,. There are a number of national systems for designating the many a'ailable aluminium alloys but the -merican -luminum -ssociation,s four-digit numbering system is uni'ersally recognised. .n this system" and e)cept for the near-pure //01 aluminium" the major alloying element is indicated by the first digit thus2 3nnn -luminium content greater than //0 4nnn #opper 5nnn Manganese 6nnn &ilicon 5nnn Magnesium 7nnn Magnesium-silicon 8nnn %inc 9nnn :ther .n the 3nnn group the last two digits represent the purity abo'e //0 thus alloy 3050 is //.500 pure aluminium. &ome aluminium alloys in sheet metal form are manufactured with an added surface foil of near-pure aluminium to pro'ide a sacrificial corrosion-resistant surface. ;or the thin <maybe 0.7 mm/0.045 inch= aluminium sheet used for light aircraft skins the layer is 'ery thin" perhaps 45 micron/0.003 inch. >enerally the layers form about 300 of the total thickness <i.e. 50 on each side= and impart a mirror-like finish. &uch material is identified as ,-lclad, <a trade name= or ,clad,* a non-clad form may be identified as ,bare,. &ome sheets of less corrosion-resistant alloys may be clad with a more resistant alloy rather than the near-pure aluminium. The following alloys" although far from specific to the aircraft industry" are prominent in light aircraft construction but there are many others and selection is generally a matter of balancing particular needs" a'ailability" strength" weight and cost. ?ery thin aluminium sheet <perhaps 0.5 mm and below= is easily damaged" e'en by rather light hail. The lower-strength materials are probably more readily a'ailable" and certainly cheaper when measured in @/kg" but then thicker dimensions will be needed to meet flight loads A thus more weight and more cost.

One square metre of 1.0 mm thick aluminium alloy sheet weighs about 2.7 kg, so 0.5 mm sheet would weigh 1.35 kg m!. "f an aircraft#s wing area is $ m! then about 1% m! of sheet is used in the skin &to' and bottom(. )sing an e*'ensi+e high strength 0.5 mm alloy the skin weight is 21.% kg, if the builder o'ted for a weaker, less-e*'ensi+e alloy and increased the thickness to 0.$ mm to com'ensate then there would be a 13 kg weight 'enalty. )nnecessary additions to airframe weight detract from aircraft 'erformance &range and rate of climb, for e*am'le( and add to ongoing o'erating costs associated with the increased fuel consum'tion, so those factors must also be taken into consideration. Alloy %&%42 an alloy <heat-treatable to high strength= of copper-magnesium-manganese <#u 6.50" Mg 3.50" Mn 0.70 plus a number of other elements= which" many years ago" was introduced to replace %&'( <.uralumin= in aircraft structures and is a'ailable in forms including bars" plates" rolled shapes" and both bare and -lclad sheet. The bare 4046 material has poor corrosion resistance so it is usually purchased in the -lclad form" which can be recognised by a mirror-like finish* but slight skin damage will e)pose the 4046 metal to corrosion. -lloy 4046 is the standard commercial aircraft structural material and often used in high-stress structural elements in home-builts. .t is also used for stock components like <e)pensi'e= spring aluminium undercarriage legs. Alloy )&)'2 a magnesium-silicon alloy <Mg 3.00" &i 0.700" #u 0.450" #r 0.450= that de'elops strength through heat treatment and has good corrosion resistance. This is a 'ery 'ersatile alloy preferred for shapes such as e)trusions" angles and channels for spar caps and longerons" drawn tubes <see following note=" bars and skin material. The high silicon content pro'ides good fatigue resistance and the 7073-T7 alloy is easy to work in the home workshop. Though e)pensi'e" 7073-T7 is probably the most common alloy used by homebuilders because of the a'ailability of forms and si$es. Alloy )&*% is similar and probably the strongest of the readily a'ailable 7000 series alloys. -luminium can be built into an airframe structure using metal fasteners" welding and e'en epo)y bonding. But simple hand air-gun ri'eting predominates in all-metal aircraft" so ease of drilling 'ery large numbers of accurate holes in 'ery thin sheets and thicker angles is an important characteristic. /ote0 the more e*'ensi+e drawn tubing generally has higher strength and tighter tolerances than 'lain e*truded or rolled tubing. 1fter e*trusion the material is #drawn# through one or more die-and-mandrel stations to strengthen the grain structure, and to ensure uniform diameter and wall thickness. Alloy (&(+2 a 'ery high-strength $inc" copper and magnesium alloy with an e)ceptional strength/weight ratio. .t is difficult to work and 'ery difficult to weld" and has poor corrosion resistance unless clad. The alloy is mainly used in the aerospace industries in plate" rod and bar forms for high-Cuality machining of parts" but not normally used in home-built aircraft A e)cept perhaps for purchased components such as <'ery e)pensi'e= spring aluminium undercarriage legs for hea'ier aircraft. Alloy ,&&,2 a widely used manganese alloy" sometimes used for aircraft skins" and for pitot

and similar fluid lines because it is readily flared and bent. .t is about two-thirds the price of 7073-T7 and half the price of 4046-T5 clad but not heat-treatable and thus is weaker. Alloy +&&+2 a magnesium-based alloy with similar properties to 5005. Alloy +&+%2 another magnesium-based alloy" which is the highest strength alloy of the common non heat-treatable grades" and has particularly good resistance to the sea atmosphere and salt water corrosion. .t is highly workable" fatigue-resistant and finds application in fluid lines" fairings" engine cowlings and similar formed parts. -$at t!$atm$nt in manufa tu!$. The 4nnn" 7nnn and 8nnn alloys are heat-treatable* that is" they de'elop strength through 'arious thermal treatments during manufacture. The basic heat treatments for these alloys are identified by the designation ,T, plus a number* this temper condition is added to the alloy designation" thus ,7073-T7,. -dditional numbers may be appended to identify 'ariations on the basic processes. The heat-treatable alloys are generally unsuitable for welding. The term solution h$at t!$atm$nt refers to a thermal hardening process where the material is soaked at fairly high temperatures for a number of hours. During this time the alloying elements are put into solid solution* i.e. some of the alloying element,s atoms replace aluminium atoms within the normal aluminium crystal lattice. Esually the temperature is then rapidly lowered <Cuenched= which lea'es an unstable structure. A.in. is the process of allowing the material to rest without load at room temperature while the internal structure stabilises.

T' A natu!ally a.$# to a substantially stable condition. This applies to products for which the rate of cooling from an ele'ated temperature-shaping process" such as casting or e)trusion" is such that their strength is increased by roomtemperature aging* rather than a!tifi ial a.in. in a low temperature o'en for perhaps 46 hours. T% A annealed <cast products only=. This designates a type of annealing treatment used to impro'e ductility and increase dimensional stability of castings. T, A solution heat-treated and then cold-worked. This applies to products that are cold-worked to impro'e strength. ;or e)ample 4046-T5 cold-rolled sheet material. T4 A solution heat-treated and naturally aged to a substantially stable condition. The most common form of dri'en ri'et is manufactured from %''(/T4 wire but the ri'eting process is a cold-working or strain-hardening process which results in the strength of the dri'en ri'et being eCui'alent to T5. T+ A artificially aged only. This applies to products that are artificially aged after an ele'ated-temperature rapid-cool fabrication process" such as casting or e)trusion. T) A solution heat-treated and then artificially aged by seCuential heating to around 385F #. This applies to products that are not cold-worked after solution heat-treatment and are readily a'ailable in many forms at affordable prices. ;or

e)ample 7073-T7 bars" rods" angles" tubes and sheet. T( A solution heat-treated and then stabilised. T* A solution heat-treated" cold-worked" and then artificially aged. T9 A solution heat-treated" artificially aged" and then cold-worked. T'& A artificially aged and then cold-worked.

(hen welded" the heat-treated alloys lose maybe 50G600 of their strength in the weld area" which cannot be reco'ered in a home workshop en'ironment and must be compensated for in the joint design. 0on h$at/t!$ata"l$ alloys 2 there are different designations for those alloys that ha'e their mechanical properties adjusted by strain hardening <cold-working= rather than thermal treatment. #old-working entails such processes as rolling <stretching=" compressing or drawing to change the shape of the material. The letter ,+, is followed by two or more digits A the first indicates the particular method used to obtain the temper as follows2 -' A strain hardened -% A strain hardened" then partially annealed -, A strain hardened" then stabilised. The second digit ndicates the degree of strain hardening2 % A Cuarter hard 4 A half hard ) A three Cuarter hard * A full hard 9 A e)tra hard. Thus 5054-+54 indicates the alloy has been strain hardened then stabilised and is Cuarter hard.

9.+ St!$ss an# st!ain 1 #$finition

.f an e)ternal force is applied to a loose metallic object" such as a length of tube" the tube will mo'e and there is no net change in the internal bonding forces. .f a similar force is applied to the same tube while it is a member of an airframe structure A and thus fully or

partly restrained from mo'ement A there will be a reaction within the metal as the clusters resist being pulled away from each other" sCuashed together or their layers sliding apart* these internal resisting forces are the st!$ss. The related st!ain is a measure of the resulting deformation. The metals used in aircraft structures are elastic to some e)tent. That is" they will deform <elongate" bend" fle)" compress" twist= under load and when that load is released they will return to their original condition. +owe'er there is a limit to the elasticity and if the load is increased beyond that elastic limit into a plastic stage" some of the deformation will remain after the load is released* i.e. there is permanent rather than temporary deformation. .f the load is increased beyond that causing permanent deformation" a point will be reached where the material fails. ;or each metal alloy and form there is a relationship between e)ternally applied forces" the reacti'e stresses and the associated strains. This is often illustrated in the form of a stress-strain diagram. The following four definitions associated with the mechanics of materials are from the O*ford .ictionary of 2hysics published in paperback by :)ford Eni'ersity Press. 3 1. Stress. 4he force 'er unit area on a body that tends to cause it to deform &see strain(. "t is a measure of the internal forces in a body between 'articles of the material of which it consists as they resist se'aration, com'ression, or sliding in res'onse to e*ternally a''lied forces. Tensile stress and compressive stress are a*ial forces 'er unit area a''lied to a body that tend either to e*tend it or com'ress it linearly. Shear stress is a tangential force 'er unit area that tends to shear a body. i.e. &tress is the load di'ided by an area.! 2. Strain. 1 measure of the e*tent to which a body is deformed when it is sub5ected to a stress. 4he linear strain or tensile strain is the ratio of the change in length to the original length. 4he bulk strain or volume strain is the ratio of the change in +olume to the original +olume. 4he shear strain is the angular distortion in radians of a body sub5ected to a shearing force.

3. Shearing force. 1 force that acts 'arallel to a 'lane rather than 'er'endicularly, as with

a tensile or com'ressi+e force. 1 shear stress requires a combination of four forces acting o+er &most sim'ly( four sides of# a 'lane and 'roduces two equal and o''osite cou'les. "t is measured as the ratio of one shearing force to the area o+er which it acts, 6 &ab( in the diagram. 4he shear strain is the angular deformation, theta, in circular measure. 4he shear modulus is the ratio of the shear stress to the shear strain.

7. Elasticity. 4he 'ro'erty of certain materials that enables them to return to their original dimensions after an a''lied stress has been remo+ed. "n general, if a stress is a''lied to a wire, the strain will increase in 'ro'ortion &see O1 on the illustration( until a certain 'oint called the limit of proportionality is reached. 4his is in accordance with 8ooke#s law. 4hereafter there is at first a slight increase in strain with increased load until a 'oint 9 is reached. 4his is the elastic limit, u' to this 'oint the deformation of the s'ecimen is elastic, i.e. when the stress is remo+ed the s'ecimen returns to its original length. :eyond the 'oint 9 there is permanent deformation when the stress is remo+ed, i.e. the material has ceased to be elastic and has become 'lastic. <:f course plastic deformation is used to shape metals* bending" swaging" beading and flaring of tubing for e)ample=. "n the 'lastic stages indi+idual materials +ary somewhat, in general, howe+er, at a 'oint : there is a sudden increase in strain without a further increase of stress - this is the yield 'oint. :eyond the 'oint ;, the breaking stress, the wire will sna' &which occurs at 'oint .(.3 Tensile stress is measured as the force per unit area in a plane normal <i.e. at right angles or orthogonal= to the application of the force. .magine an aluminium strap a metre or so in length hanging 'ertically from a ceiling beam and supporting a weight of 300 kg. The plane normal to the load will be hori$ontal" so the area to be measured will be the strap,s thickness times its width" say 5 mm H 40 mm I 300 mmJ and those dimensions are constant throughout its length* thus the stress will be 3 kg per mmJ. The area for the stress calculation is the minimum cross-section occurring at any part of the length. Kow suppose a gouge or scratch one mm deep is made right across the strap width" ha'ing the effect of reducing local thickness to 6 mm and thus area to 90 mmJ* conseCuently the stress will now be 3.45 kg per mmJ. &o although the force <weight= has remained the same" the gouge has raised the stress 450" which is why such imperfections are known as st!$ss !is$!s. The same rise in stress would occur if a 6 mm diameter hole was drilled anywhere in the

strap length because such a hole would reduce the local cross-section area by 40 mmJ. Both the hole and the gouge also tend to form stress concentrations close to their peripheries" but we will look at the effect of stress concentrators/risers later. .n this e)ample . ha'e ignored the "$a!in. st!$ss" a type of compression loading" which might occur at the upper and lower strap fastenings* but we will look at that in the module ,-K" M& hardware A ri'ets" bolts and locking de'ices,. Material under tensile stress elongates and thus the cross-section area will decrease somewhere. &imilarly" material under compressi'e stress shrinks in length and thus the cross-section area must e)pand somewhere. This combined with the yield strength has application in ri'eting" as we will see in the module ,-K" M& hardware A ri'ets" bolts and locking de'ices,.

9.) Appli ation in #$si.n

-n aircraft designer must be sure that the airframe design will perform its function and that its proportions are sufficient to carry the functional forces applied to it" in any stage of flight" without any part of the structure undergoing permanent deformation A metals become useless in load bearing structures long before they break. &ee the following2 Limiting loads and ultimate loads -ircraft flight en'elope ;-M 45 -ppendi) -. #omplete ;-M 45 G this is a 780 kb te)t file. To accomplish this" the designer must complete a stress analysis and know how the airframe structure will react under the calculated stresses. ;or that purpose the designer must ha'e access to Cuantitati'e mechanical data for all materials and structural components. These data are originated by materials testing laboratories associated with manufacturers" or other organisations" using internationally established standard test methods. The mechanical properties data from the laboratories is de'eloped by others into reference tables for designers co'ering the multitude of forms" shapes" dimensions" thicknesses and conditions in which that material may be commercially a'ailable. Kote that the design will always include the regulated limit load H 3.5 ultimate load safety factor. But of course the designer,s ultimate load !$s$!2$ fa to! for indi'idual members" or indeed the airframe as a whole" is going to be greater than that regulated ultimate load safety factor. The mechanical properties of most interest to the aircraft designer A apart from Cualities like density" workability" weldability" corrosion resistance

and fatigue life A are the following.

Elasti limit and yi$l# st!$n.th &y ! A the elastic limit is the ma)imum stress the structural member can handle and still return to its original state when the load is released" while the yield strength appro)imates the stress at the elastic limit. 4he term #'roof load# may be substituted for yield strength, 'articularly in the conte*t of #'re-loading# in bolted 5oints. Kote that this particular cur'e <to the right of the & y point= shows the metal yielding <i.e. the strain increasing= without any further increase in the load. - &.%3 offs$t yield strength is usually specified. This is determined from a stress-strain diagram by offsetting the straight-line portion of the cur'e by 0.40 from the $ero-strain position" reflecting the stress at which larger dislocations occur in the crystals. .t is sometimes referred to as the 0.40 proof stress. Nield strength for metals used in aircraft is generally around 800 of ultimate tensile strength but 'aries between 750 and /00. .t,s also the strength property the designer would normally use in comparing strength/weight ratios.

The stress-strain diagram abo'e is generalised and not representati'e of any particular metal or alloy" but the enlarged portion of a stress-strain diagram at left is representati'e of aluminium alloys. 4ltimat$ t$nsil$ st!$n.th &u ! A not as important as yield strength e)cept" perhaps" if the designer is including a ,crash cage, structure for occupant protection. #ompressi'e strength hasn,t been mentioned but it can assumed that metal in compression can carry a load eCui'alent to 800 of &u without buckling and about the same 'alue when subject to to!sion st!$ss A a combination of tensile and compressi'e loads. Elon.ation A the plasticity region between &y and &u is an indication of ductility* the amount of plastic or permanent deformation <stretching" bending" buckling= before the testpiece fails under load. Olongation is the amount of plastic e)tension at the failure point measured as a percentage of the original length of the gauged portion of the testpiece. The elongation of aircraft structural metals should be not less than 90 and possibly as high as 400. .t,s also a measure of "!ittl$n$ss <low or no elongation before breaking= and tou.hn$ss <high elongation before cracking or breaking=. Toughness is a particular property possessed by normalised 6350" which absorbs a lot of energy in permanent deformation before cracking or breaking so it is sometimes used as the centre fuselage <cockpit= structure in an otherwise all-aluminium airframe. The plastic deformation properties of metals when cold-worked is utilised in ri'eting" flaring or beading tube ends or when swaging fittings to cable ends to form an attachment eye. Stiffn$ss and mo#ulus of $lasti ity 5E6 A an elastic metal under load stores energy and returns that energy when the load is reduced or released. &tiffness is the ratio of stress applied to the strain produced" within the elastic limit" and is apparent from the slope of the initial linear

portion of the cur'e in a stress-strain diagram A the e)tended modulus line in the diagram abo'e. The greater the angle that line subtends with the strain a)is <i.e. the steeper the slope=" the stiffer the basic material. &tiffness or rigidity is e)pressed as the modulus of elasticity &modulus < measure( A otherwise known as Noung,s modulus which" for tension stress and strain" is calculated as2 = < >force ? initial length@ >change in length ? cross-section area@ The resultant is a 'ery high number* the 6350 modulus of elasticity is 50 500 000 psi / 430 000 MPa" about three times that of 7073-T7 at 30 000 000 psi / 7/ 000 MPa. -lloying or heat treatment doesn,t ha'e much effect on the stiffness of aluminium <or steel= below yield strength" so all the aluminium alloys mentioned ha'e a similar modulus of elasticity as do all steel alloys. The bulk modulus is the ratio of the pressure on a body to its fractional decrease in 'olume. The shear <or rigidity= modulus is the tangential force per unit area di'ided by the angular deformation in radians.

9.( Eff$ t of shap$ on stiffn$ss

&tructural stiffness in bending or torsion is as important as strength* for e)ample if the aft fuselage bends under changing aerodynamic loads on the tailplane surfaces" the angle of attack of those surfaces will change" thus again changing the load ... and so the cycle continues. .n the turbulent atmospheric conditions often encountered near the surface" lack of structural stiffness substantially increases pilot work-load and adds to airframe fatigue A see below. The modulus of elasticity e)presses the stiffness 'alue of standard test pieces" but stiffness of formed metal is also dependent on the geometry of the material. ;or e)ample the stiffness of a solid metal bar of a particular cross-section area can be changed substantially by reforming it as an angle section" channel section" ,T, section" ,., section or a round" rectangular or streamlined tube" of the same length and mass. -n aircraft designer will be looking for the most efficient material shape for each structural element* i.e. the shape that pro'ides the reCuired stiffness and strength with the least weight. &tructural elements loaded only in tension or compression are" e)cept for long columns" generally 'ery stiff and that stiffness is dependent on the cross-section area <as is the strength= not the cross-section shape. +owe'er" the resistance to bending and torsion loads <which are combinations of tension and compression stress acting opposite to each

other= is allied to the shape of the element* for e)ample2 round or rectangular tubes and other enclosed shapes resist torsion well" and are more rigid against torsion than an ,., section an ,., section resists bending better than round or rectangular tubes and that bending stiffness is proportional to the section depth cubed* see properties of beams a hollow circular shaft is the most efficient shape for carrying a torCue A hence torCue tubes a round tube has the greatest resistance to buckling in compression A and tubing trusses nearly always fail in compression by buckling* see long column buckling. The bending and torsional stiffn$ss of a tu"$ is a function of diameter and wall thickness. .f a round tube of particular outside diameter is reformed into a larger-diameter tube of the same length but reduced wall thickness" the wider tube will be stiffer than the original tube e'en though the mass is the same. &4he increase in stiffness is in 'ro'ortion to the square of the diameter.( :r a round aluminium tube of 50 mm outside diameter and 4 mm wall thickness will be eight times stiffer than a tube half its diameter with the same wall thickness" e'en though the larger tube has only slightly more than twice the mass. &4he increase in stiffness is in 'ro'ortion to the cube of the diameter if the wall thickness is maintained A or if the wall thickness is doubled the bending stiffness is also doubled.( +owe'er" there is a limiting relationship between outside diameter and wall thickness before buckling potential might become a problem. -lso 'ery thin-walled steel tubing is difficult to weld so there is a minimum wall thickness associated with welded tube structures. Mound" rather than sCuare metal tubing is the material of structural choice because a gi'en mass of metal can be formed into a larger diameter <and thus stiffer= tube of the same wall thickness and length if it is round rather than sCuare. The mass of metal contained in a 30 mm H 30 mm H 4 mm wall thickness sCuare tube would produce a 34 mm outside diameter H 4 mm wall thickness round tube of the same length" which would be considerably stiffer and more resistant to long column buckling. #on'ersely a round tube can pro'ide the same stiffness as a sCuare tube but with considerably less weight.

&Cuare steel tube greatly simplifies welded truss fabrication" as parts can be mated with simple straight-angled cuts. (hereas" round tube reCuires more comple) radius cutting <a fish mouth= to properly mate the parts prior to welding. This ad'antage may be appealing to someone who is prepared to trade the long term weight penalty <for e)ample" reduction in payload and rate of climb" increase in fuel bills= for the short time sa'ed in construction. Mound tubing is the primary material in most factory-built steel truss fuselages. There may be ad'antages in using sCuare tubing for fuselage longerons and round tubing for the other members. Lon. olumn "u 7lin.. Long" slender structural members that are loaded a)ially in compression <for e)ample" compression struts in wings and fuselage truss members= ha'e an elastic instability that causes them to reach a critical stress and fail by buckling <i.e. bending sideways= well before the ultimate stress. &uch elements are known as long columns. -luminium skins also e)hibit some of the aspects of long column buckling when" for e)ample" wing bending causes compression buckling <oil canning= of skin sections. The critical stress is2 directly proportional to the modulus of elasticity of the material in'ersely proportional to the column length sCuared2 i.e. hal'e the length and the critical load is increased four times

proportional to the moment of inertiaP of the column cross-section" which depends on the cross-sectional area and its distribution from the centroidP of the shape. The farther the area is from the centroid the larger the moment of inertia becomes" which is another reason for round tubing being the fa'oured material for steel truss fuselages. B4he centroid is the #centre of gra+ity# of a twodimensional sha'e, for sha'es like the cross-section of aluminium angle sections, the centroid will be outside the cross-section area. 4he moment of inertia refers to the surface distribution about the centroidal a*is and measures the ca'acity of a crosssection to resist bending.

9.* M$tal fati.u$ in ai!f!am$s

Metals in airframes undergo fluctuating cyclic stresses during e'ery flight. .f these stresses are great enough they may" o'er time" cause microscopic fractures to form between grains" both within the metal and on the surface. <This is particularly significant for those aircraft whose fuselages ha'e to be designed as pressure 'essels.= #ontinuing cyclic stresses cause these weaknesses to grow rapidly and strength could deteriorate" maybe to the point where a structural member will fracture. To ensure this does not happen" the designer must be aware of the fatigue/endurance limit of structural materials" design the structure accordingly and perhaps specify a design life/ser'ice life for critical members.

Metals are laboratory tested to ascertain their fatigue life by subjecting a number of standard test pieces to repetiti'e positi'e and negati'e loadings for thousands/millions of cycles. .nitially the test force used is 'ery high" well abo'e &y but below &u. The elapsed number of cycles at which the test piece fails is plotted on a ,stress/number of cycles, &-K! diagram. The load is then reduced a little for the ne)t test and the result again plotted* and so on until a large number of tests at reducing loads ha'e been plotted" which might look like one of the cur'es in the &-K diagram at left. The 'ertical a)is shows stress applied and the hori$ontal a)is shows the total number of cycles A or cumulati'e flight hours if you like A and it is apparent that the greater the cyclic stress" the shorter the time to failure. But note the test result for steel. This re'eals that once the load is reduced to a particular le'el during the test process" the metal no longer fractures A no matter how many repetiti'e loading cycles" at that stress le'el" are applied. This is the fati.u$ limit &e ! A or endurance limit A and steel will only fail <e'entually= if the fatigue limit is e)ceeded. The fatigue limit is well below the metal,s yield strength" perhaps at the 50G 700 le'el. :b'iously if the designer e)pects that loads applied A within

the defined flight en'elope A will be below fatigue limit there is no need to be concerned about fatigue life or a #$si.n lif$ limit for the member. +owe'er" the &-K cur'e for aluminium shows no fatigue limit* i.e. test failures are still occurring regardless of the reducing application of stress" although the number of cycles to failure increases as stress applied decreases. Thus aluminium has a fati.u$ st!$n.th &f ! that is relati'e to the number of cycles e)perienced during its life. The airframe must be designed so that the loading is always less than the fatigue strength relati'e to a design life limit* i.e. the stress load must always remain under the cur'e until the airframe reaches its design life limit. Thus there might be critical components within an airframe <or engine= that ha'e a design life limit as low as a few hundred flight hours* these components must be replaced at" or before" that time. Eff$ t of st!$ss on $nt!ato!s/!ais$!s2 all of this presupposes that the aircraft is not operated outside its limits <for e)ample read 6light at e*cessi+e s'eed= and that all accidental damage is identified Cuickly and repaired properly. The effect of surface damage in increasing tensile stress was mentioned abo'e" but when a structural member like the main wing spar is under torsional or bending loads the stress is not uniformly distributed throughout the material A it tends to be concentrated at the surface<s=* see beam properties. &4he same surface stress flows also a''ly to some e*tent to members under tension, which is why aluminium tubing has such a good strength weight ratio A if the tube were solid metal that ratio would be greatly reduced, because the core metal doesn#t contribute much in the way of load sharing.( Thus surface defects like scratches from o'er $ealous surface preparation" burrs" tool marks" nicks" dents" corrosion" badly formed or burred ri'et holes and so on are in an area of stress flow and will act as concentrators" raising the stress in an area where failure is already most likely to occur. .ncorrectly fitted ri'ets" and incorrectly fitted or incorrectly torCued bolts" also act as stress raisers. Design faults that promote discontinuities in the stress flow <sCuare rather than radiused corners A inside and outside A for e)ample= also produce stress concentrations. The edges of all sheet material must be de-burred and rounded. .n practically all cases metal fatigue manifests itself 'isibly as surface cracks in areas subject to high tensile loads. The cracks propagate at right angles to the tension force A starting from a ri'et or bolt hole" an edge notch or a surface defect A and" once started" de'elop Cuickly. &ome of the airframe areas particularly subject to high tensile stresses

are2

any fuselage carry-through structures associated with the wings/struts wing strut attachments both at the fuselage and the spar/s upper engine mounting structures attachment point of the 'ertical tail post under surfaces of the main undercarriage legs.

;atigue cracking of pipes/tubes subject to engine 'ibration is often associated with incorrect or insufficient clamping. Propellers and their blade retaining systems are particularly responsi'e to surface damage and incorrect retainer fitment. Metal components may fail 'ery Cuickly if they are subject to stresses outside the design parameters" caused by modification to the original design* see ,4he 6o* story A gyrosco'ic loads.

9.9 Fati.u$ y l$s in li.ht ai! !aft

- cycle doesn,t necessarily mean a load re'ersal* i.e. a structural member in tensile stress changing to compressi'e stress or 'ice 'ersa. :ne cycle is any 'ariation in applied stress A the application/increase of stress followed by the release/decrease of that stress. (e saw abo'e that to cause failure" the applied stress has to be of sufficient magnitude and the number of cycles sufficiently high. - 'ibration in the engine cowling" emanating from the engine or propeller" is a highly repetiti'e stress fluctuation but of 'ery low magnitude. .t is high cycle/low stress" and is not of great concern as a potential fatigue problem" e)cept perhaps as a potential fretting corrosion problem. +owe'er" a resonant engine/propeller 'ibration might ha'e 30 cycles per re'olution* thus the number of high-magnitude stress cycles may accumulate rather Cuickly. -t the other e)treme a 5.5g wing loading caused by a hard pull-up should be an infreCuent e'ent <in a nonaerobatic aircraft= so it is low cycle/high stress and is not significant. (hile an aircraft remains airborne" the mean bending loads on the wing and hori$ontal stabili$er spars is 13g. &uperimposed on this are mainly the irregular loads caused by mild turbulence plus" to a much smaller e)tent" the regular smooth 'ariations caused by the manoeu'ring loads. The greater the freCuency and e)tent of turbulence encounters and/or manoeu'ring" the greater the number and the amplitude of the bending load cycles during a flight. The more e)treme the amplitude of those cycles" the

greater the fatigue effect. &imilarly" manoeu'ring" turbulence and changes in airspeed continually change the torsional loads on wings and empennage. The cyclic combinations that are cause for concern in fatigue de'elopment are the high cycle/high stress e'ents and the most common of these is caused by persistent flight at normal cruise speed in choppy atmospheric conditions A cobblestoning. Training aircraft are also subject to an abnormal number of takeoff" circuit and landing cycles" which can make a significant contribution to fatigue damage. The undercarriage and airframe will encounter many stress changes during ta)ying" take-off and landing A the magnitude depending on the roughness of both the surface and the students/pilots. Kor does an aircraft ha'e to be flown to de'elop metal fatigue. There ha'e been some recent e)amples of aircraft being tied down in the open and e)posed to wind loads for long periods A thus de'eloping fatigue failures at a wing strut attachment point" which was also the attachment point for the tethering cable. P!$/t$nsionin. of structural fasteners greatly reduces the freCuency of stress cycles to which the bolts in critical joints are subject. &ee pre-loading.

9.'& St!$n.th ompa!ison 1 aluminium an# st$$l alloys

The table below is a comparison of the steel and aluminium alloys mentioned above, showing ultimate tensile strength plus a calculation of the minimum necessary cross-section area for a rod supporting a 10 000 pounds load in tension, with no permanent deformation; i.e. the limit load for that material and cross-section area. In addition, the last column is a calculation of the weight of 10 inches of that alloy section which, in effect, provides a direct comparison of the (tensile yield strength!weight ratios of the metals; note that "0"#-T$ is superior to the %uenched and tempered &1'0 steel, and $0$1-T$ is superior in strength!weight to &1'0 (. I have included the ultimate tensile strengths of the non-tempered versions of the aluminium alloys so that the (roughly )#0* improvement in +T,, provided by the heat treatment, can be seen. I have also added the 6063 alloy which is similar, but not preferable, to $0$1-T$ and commonly used for e-trusions. 4ltimat$ Loa# a!!yin. apa ity

t$nsil$ st!$n.th Alloy 6350 K 6350 QT /00F ; 4046-0 4046-T5 5005-+37 7073-0 7073-T7 7075-0 7075-T7 8085-0 8085-T7 psi 307 000 377 000 48 000 80 000 47 000 39 000 65 000 35 000 55 000 54 000 87 000 MPa 850 3350 395 690 390 345 530 /0 460 440 540 A!$a sC.inch 0.36/ 0.0743 0.40 0.45 R 0.358

5'& &&& l"s6 8$nsity lb/cub.in 0.4955 0.4955 0.3005 0.0/85 R 0.3036 9$i.ht lbs 0.64 0.39 0.40 0.46 R 0.36