Finite Element Analysis of Fatigue and Fracture Behavior in Idealized Airplane Wing Model with Embedded Crack Under Wind Load

Aircraft wings undergo forces like thrust, drag as well as transient loads due to gust. Even though these loads overall help in the stability of an aircraft but over time it can cause growth of defects such as micro cracks or voids due to fatigue. We would like to investigate the fatigue, fracture failure due to wind load during its long operating life of the airplane. Therefore, we have modeled the airplane wing as cantilever beam and applied fluctuating wind load. The airplane wing with embedded crack was modeled in commercial finite element analysis tool, ANSYS. The drag and lift forces acting as pressure on the adjacent faces of the wing with a transient wind load has been simulated to determine the loads on an aero foil working under similar conditions through CFD analysis. The load estimated through the CFD analysis was applied on the wing model to obtain the stress intensity factor and energy release rate. Analysis for fatigue failure was also carried out to predict life of the idealized model under considered loading. The results obtained through this work can be helpful in understanding the fatigue behavior in the transient loading condition such as wind in airplane wing.