VI.

FAILURE ANALYSIS OF A FLAP ACTUATOR ROD

The case study is about the failure of a flap actuator rod. An actuator is a kind
of motor device that used to adjust flaps on an aircraft’s wing and also converts
energy into mechanical motion.

actuators are divided into different groups in terms of the energy source such
as electric, hydraulic, and pneumatic

since the actuators are directly related to the aircraft control it's play critical
roles during the flights which is the flight safety

Figure1
An actuator located inside the wing.

The case study is about the

failure of a Phantom flap
actuator rod. Basically, an
Actuator is a kind of motor
that converts energy into
mechanical motion. In terms
Of the energy source,
actuators are divided into
different groups such as
electric,
Hydraulic, and pneumatic
The case that we tend to studied is concerning the mobility lost of the flaps
during the flight. Luckily, the aircraft could make the landing safely and
therefore an investigation was done to look for an explanation of the cause of
the problem so the First search showed that the cap section of the actuator rod
was broken. The rod had a ball bearing inside the hole drilled on the cap
section and the failure occurred near along the diameter of the hole.
 Figure2
Failed section of the actuator rod.

Shows the failed section of

the actuator rod.
3.1
shows the failed section of
the actuator rod.
3.1
III.1 FAILURE MECHANISM OF THE
ACTUATOR ROD
Macroscopic examination showed that the cap section of the rod was
broken obviously and there was no proof of dent, scratch, or deformation in
 the region of the crack. General condition of the rod was good out of the
crack zone.

At the beginning of the investigation,

the crack surface was divided into
two
Regions due to different surface
characteristics. The smooth regions
with shiny
appearance were labeled by Zone-I
and the dull regions were labeled by
Zone-II
as seen in Figure 13.14
At the start of the investigation, the crack surface was divided into two
regions due to different surface characteristics. The smooth regions with
shiny appearance were marked by Zone-I and the dull regions by Zone-II as
seen in Figure 3

Figure3
Zone-I and Zone-II on the crack surface of the actuator rod.
 For Zone-I there was a fine fatigue striations which were stemmed from
cyclic loading as seen in (Figure 4). Propagation points of the striations
indicated that V-shaped dents around the hole had started the crack growth
(Figure 5)

Figure4
SEM image of the actuator rod Zone-I.

Figure5
V-shaped dent as crack propagation point.

In the Zone-II the failure was explained as a typical ductile fracture. SEM
pictures showed that the Zone-II had rough surfaces as shown in (Figure 6).
These surface characteristics explained that the element was subjected to
tensile loading instead of shear loading. Because ductile materials develop
small voids within the body and since the loading acts perpendicular to the
fracture surface, the small voids area unit elongated with the direction of
 the fracture surface. The shear loadings dimples are seen in elliptical or C-
shaped form because of the horizontal elongation of the micro voids with
respect to the fracture surface

Figure6
SEM image of the actuator rod Zone-II.

III.2 DISCUSSION ON THE FAILURE OF

ACTUATOR ROD
According to the investigation results, fatigue crack initiation was stemmed
from the V-shaped dents.

Finally, the rod cap ruptured because the cross sectional area decreased. There
were four crack initiation sites on the fracture surface. Furthermore, as seen in
Figure 3, the fatigue areas (Zone-I) were wider at the bottom side than at the
upper side of the fracture surface that unsymmetrical bending acted on the
component. The problem source is V-shaped dent that accumulated the stress
in which lead to increase of the crack growth The V-shaped dent was a design
error, which was performed by squeezing operation in assembly stage, and
must have replaced by a safe method. Figure 7 shows a recommended forming
method with larger root radius to distribute the stress accumulation while
constraining the ball bearing inside the hole.

Additionally, since the maximum stresses affect certain sections of the rod cap
the locations of the squeezing operation was very important in terms of failure.
Locations of the V-shaped dents are given by circles and the recommended
locations where the stresses are less during the service conditions are given by
lines in Figure 8.
 Figure7
Recommended squeezing point with larger root radius

Figure8
Actual (circles) and recommended (lines) locations of the squeezing operation

CONCLUSION
Aircraft components are exposed to
complicated loadings during the
flights. Static
loadings act on the components at the
steady-state conditions. However,
dynamic
loadings are more prominent since
the conditions are changeable while
flying. Each
part of the aircraft responds
dynamically to the forces acting
during the flight phases
such as taxi-bump or landing.
Moreover, the structure exhibits
more intense response
in the extreme conditions such as
gusts or bird strikes.
Cyclic loading is a kind of dynamic
loading that may end up with
material
 fatigue. Fatigue is the most common
cause of structural failure in the
aircraft. For
this reason, service lives of the
components are described by flight
hours and the
components are substituted after
certain periods in the aircraft by
considering mate-
rial fatigue limits
IV. CONCLUSION
Aircraft components are exposed to complicated loadings during the flights.
Static loadings act on the components at the steady-state conditions.
However, dynamic loadings are more prominent since the conditions are
changeable while flying. Each part of the aircraft responds dynamically to
the forces acting during the flight phases such as landing. Cyclic loading is a
kind of dynamic loading that may end up with material fatigue. Fatigue is
the most common cause of structural failure in the aircraft. For this reason,
service lives of the components are described by flight hours and the
components are substituted after certain periods in the aircraft by
considering material fatigue limits.