Fatigue response of aircraft wing root joints under limit cycle oscillations

When wing root attachments are subject to cyclic loading during a flight, slipbands are produced by fatique. The density of these slipbands increases with the advancing of the fatigue process and initial cracks appear within the persistent slipbands. This project investigates the fatigue response of a titanium alloy wing root joint under different loading spectra during limit-cycle oscillations by the strain-life approach. Although wing root attachments are designed such that the nominal loads remain elastic, stress concentrations often cause plastic strains to develop in the vincinity of notches. Subsequently, wing loads caused by limit-cycle oscillations lead to fatique damage accumulation. This project's results lead to the conclusion that cyclic loading during limit-cycle oscillations can cause fatigue damage in wing root joints. Tensile mean stress is detrimental to the fatique life of wing root joints, while compressive mean stress is beneficial.