The life of a commercial airliner is generally specified based on the stresses the structure
receives over time.
Aircraft structures are manufactured with stressed skinned philosophy where the aircraft
skin, along with frames, beams, and ribs, is a load carrier.
So in today’s video, let’s examine how long these structures last and the factors
that come into play…
Multiple sections of the airframe are held together with rivets and fasteners.
Since most commercial aircraft fly at high altitudes, pressurizing the cabin at human-survivable
levels becomes necessary.
Pressurization cycles add to the stresses the aircraft structure endures during flight.
A typical day in the life of a narrowbody jet, such as the Airbus A320, calls for 5-6
flight missions.
Such frequency of structural stresses limits the lifespan of the aircraft.
The airliner's operational life is specified through the fail-safe and safe-life philosophies
of manufacturing.
The fail-safe philosophy ensures that a complete failure to the structure does not occur even
if part of it fails.
For example, frequent pressure cycles incur high stresses on the airframe.
As a result, the structure is fatigued and prone to cracks and breakage.
If a specific section of the airframe is ruptured, it will not cause the entire structure to
fail.
The stressed skin philosophy prevents the fuselage from breaking and causing a complete
failure.
The safe-life philosophy allows manufacturers to establish lowered inspection programs for
systems that cannot be covered through a fail-safe design.
For example, the aircraft landing gears cannot be covered under fail-safe operations despite
the stresses endured upon each landing.
Thus, a safe-life strategy is implemented by adjusting inspection requirements to identify
anomalies long before failure.
An aircraft landing gear can survive 30,000 routine landings before the need for inspection
for abnormalities.
However, a safe-life strategy imposes a detailed stress inspection at 10,000 cycles, preventing
the chance of undetected fatigued parts.
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But to answer the question of today’s video, how long should commercial airframes actually
last?
Aircraft manufacturers maintain a balance between the hard limits of safe-life parts
and failure modes of the fail-safe designed systems.
Short-range narrowbody jets are typically intended for 50,000 flight cycles.
With this in mind, an aircraft that has an average of five flight cycles per day will
probably see 27 years of operation, plus the downtime for maintenance.
Long-range widebody airliners with conventional fuselages, such as the Boeing 747, are designed
for approximately 30,000 flight cycles.
With an average of just 1.2 cycles per day, such aircraft can last over four decades.
The life limit of newer composite-driven widebody airframes is much higher.
According to Boeing, the designed lifespan of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner is 44,000 flight
cycles.
While it is not uncommon for airliners to have over three decades of operational life,
unusual routines and various events age the aircraft prematurely.
Airplanes that regularly fly very short distances are prone to frequent stresses on the airframe
and wings.
For example, aircraft operating short island hops for Hawaiian Airlines are expected to
age much more quickly than the same aircraft type flying different missions in another
part of the world.
Economic factors also force some carriers to move their aircraft into premature retirement,
as in the case of the Airbus A380 and a few airlines.
New and more efficient entrants to the market also have the effect of pushing less-economical
aircraft out well before retirement age.
Operators frequently renew their fleets to have aircraft with lower fuel burn and lower
operating costs.
Did you know the approximate lifespan of an aircraft before watching this video?
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a comment.