Open Access

ARTICLE

Fatigue Crack Growth in Stiffened Panels, Integrally Machined or Welded (LBW or FSW): the DaToN Project Common Testing Program

by A. Lanciotti, L. Lazzeri¹, C. Polese², C. Rodopoulos³, P. Moreira⁴, A. Brot⁶, L. Velterop⁸, G. Biallas⁹, J. Klement

1 Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Pisa, Italy (Pisa).
2 Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Pisa, Italy. (Now with School of Mechan-ical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa).
3 Materials Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, UK (SHU). (Now with Department ofMechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Greece).
4 Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade do Porto, Portugal. (IDMEC).
5 Israel Aerospace Industries, Israel. (IAI).
6 Swedish Defense Research Agency, Sweden. (FOI).
7 Nationaal Lucht- en Ruimtevaartlaboratorium, The Netherlands. (NLR).
8 German Aerospace Center, Cologne, Germany. (DLR).
9 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic. (Brno).

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring 2011, 7(3), 211-230. https://doi.org/10.3970/sdhm.2011.007.211

Abstract

An experimental activity was performed to collect test data on the fatigue crack propagation in various types of specimens, within the DaToN research project, partly funded by the EU in the FP6 programme. Only one general configuration was used, i.e. flat panels with two blade stringers, with different options for the manufacturing processes, that could be integral or welded. The purpose of this test activity was to obtain useful results for the validation and calibration of prediction methodologies, also developed in the same DaToN research project. A wide experimental programme was defined and performed by many laboratories; the materials investigated were 2024-T3 and 6056, welded in the T4 or T6 conditions. The main results are here presented and commented, both for what concerns the fatigue crack propagation tests and the residual stress measurements.

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