Corrosion fatigue reliability of aging aircraft structures

Abstract Structural integrity evaluation methods for aging aircraft are surveyed. Design approaches and programmes adopted by the aircraft industry to ensure structural safety are reviewed. Corrosion fatigue is the major failure mechanism affecting airframe integrity. Therefore, corrosion fatigue reliability analysis and life prediction methods are emphasized in detail. Probabilistic methods to simulate the total corrosion fatigue damage process and to estimate the reliability, considering both single‐site and multiple‐site damage, are studied. Application examples that illustrate the reliability evaluation of aircraft fuselage lap joints under corrosion and fatigue are discussed.