Aircraft Structure under Repeated Inspections

Reliability analysis of a wing panel undergoing repeated loading in presence of periodic inspections with regard to fatigue damage development is considered. It is the intention of the authors to show how the inspection strategy can be updated by inference of the results of previous observations. The effect of the different variables used to model the problem is illustrated in relation to the probability of failure of the component in exam. The methodology proposed is a generalization of strutural reliabilty methods developed for the ships and offshore industries. The results obtained are appealing also in the aerospace field for both quantitative and qualitative reliability analysis under the constraints of safety and cost.