STRUCTURAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS INTENDED TO PROVIDE STATIC STRENGTH AND LIFETIME OF REGIONAL PASSENGER AIRCRAFT

Abstract

Ensuring flight safety and aircraft structure lifetime is important today’s problem in development of up-to-date regional passenger aircraft. This paper deals with the aspects of providing static strength and lifetime of regional passenger aircraft. A series of factors and parameters were analyzed, which affect the aircraft static strength, lifetime, such as: fatigue, corrosion, wear, fretting-corrosion, human factor.n To ensure static strength, operational and design loads were determined for the entire range of design speeds and flight altitudes, overloads, aircraft weights and CG positions, fuel weight, cargo weight and various possible combinations of their distribution, taking into account the following: dynamic load and elastic characteristics of the aircraft’s design flying in disturbed air and while landing; dynamic load of the control system structure during maneuvering and under wind gusts; failures and malfunctions of systems that directly affect the strength characteristics. The results of flight tests showed that the An-148 100 / An-158 typical structure under the terms of static strength does not have features and parts that create emergency conditions or are unreliable, and confirmed the correctness of the choice of the established operational limitations presented for inclusion in the Flight Operation Manual. Conditions for operation of the An-148-100 / An-158 family during a design life of 30 years were determined on the basis of a comparative analysis of the corrosion resistance of the aircraft structures, whose service life exceeds 30 years. An-148-100 / An-158 airplanes are designed and manufactured in all-climate version in compliance with all the requirements for anti-corrosion protection. The aircraft used design and technological solutions to protect against loss of strength during operation from weathering, corrosion and abrasion, which allowed to state that the main power elements of the An-148-100 / An-158 aircraft typical structure are protected from reduction or loss of strength in operation for any reason, including weathering, corrosion and abrasion, as well as adequate ventilation and drainage. The provision of static strength and lifetime of regional passenger aircraft is confirmed by static, fatigue and flight tests of airplanes, reflected in technical reports with regard to strength, lifetime and service life of the An-148-100 / An-158 aircraft.