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Article

The Effect of Tropical Environment on Fatigue Failure in Royal Malaysian Airforce (RMAF) Aircraft Structure and Operational Readiness

by
Arvinthan Venugopal
1,2,
Roslina Mohammad
2,*,
Md Fuad Shah Koslan
1,
Syed Roslee Sayd Bakar
3 and
Alizarin Ali
4
1
RMAF Centre of Aerospace Engineering Services Establishment, Subang Airbase, Shah Alam 40000, Malaysia
2
Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Universiti Technology Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
3
Science & Technology Research Institute for Defence (STRIDE) Kajang, Selangor 43000, Malaysia
4
CAIDMARK Sdn Bhd, Damansara Utama Petaling Jaya, Selangor 47400, Malaysia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Materials 2021, 14(9), 2414; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14092414
Submission received: 30 March 2021 / Revised: 27 April 2021 / Accepted: 27 April 2021 / Published: 6 May 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Fatigue Behavior of Metals and Alloys)

Abstract

The environmental condition in which the Royal Malaysian Airforce is currently operating its aircraft is prone to corrosion. This is due to the high relative humidity and temperature. With most of its aircraft being in the legacy aircraft era, the aircraft’s main construction consists of the aluminium 2024 material. However, this material is prone to corrosion, thus reducing fatigue life and leading to fatigue failure. Using the concept of either Safe Life or Damage Tolerance as its fatigue design philosophy, the RMAF adopts the Aircraft Structure Integrity Program (ASIP) to monitor its structural integrity. With the current problem of not having the structural limitation on corrosion-damaged structure, the RMAF has embarked on its fatigue testing method. Finite Element (FE) studies and flight tests were conducted, and the outcome is summarized. The conclusion is that the longeron tested on the aircraft can withstand the operational load, and its yield strength is below the ultimate yield strength of the material. These research outcomes will also enhance the ASIP for other aircraft platforms in the RMAF fleet for its structure life assessment or service life extension program.
Keywords: longeron; corrosion; fatigue; aluminum 2024; aircraft structure integrity program longeron; corrosion; fatigue; aluminum 2024; aircraft structure integrity program

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Venugopal, A.; Mohammad, R.; Koslan, M.F.S.; Sayd Bakar, S.R.; Ali, A. The Effect of Tropical Environment on Fatigue Failure in Royal Malaysian Airforce (RMAF) Aircraft Structure and Operational Readiness. Materials 2021, 14, 2414. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14092414

AMA Style

Venugopal A, Mohammad R, Koslan MFS, Sayd Bakar SR, Ali A. The Effect of Tropical Environment on Fatigue Failure in Royal Malaysian Airforce (RMAF) Aircraft Structure and Operational Readiness. Materials. 2021; 14(9):2414. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14092414

Chicago/Turabian Style

Venugopal, Arvinthan, Roslina Mohammad, Md Fuad Shah Koslan, Syed Roslee Sayd Bakar, and Alizarin Ali. 2021. "The Effect of Tropical Environment on Fatigue Failure in Royal Malaysian Airforce (RMAF) Aircraft Structure and Operational Readiness" Materials 14, no. 9: 2414. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14092414

APA Style

Venugopal, A., Mohammad, R., Koslan, M. F. S., Sayd Bakar, S. R., & Ali, A. (2021). The Effect of Tropical Environment on Fatigue Failure in Royal Malaysian Airforce (RMAF) Aircraft Structure and Operational Readiness. Materials, 14(9), 2414. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14092414

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