Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
Quoting M404 (Thread starter): Without closeups I can;t really see a chip or crack pattern indicative of ice but was wondering have any techs here heard or seen of a cone collapsing from former mends or structural failure. |
Quoting EMBQA (Reply 2): Maybe even an older bird strike. The composite was cracked or weakened.. water gets in, freezes, causes the composite core to delaminate and over time causes a 'soft' spot |
Quoting EMBQA (Reply 2): Maybe even an older bird strike. |
Quoting PhilSquares (Reply 4): There was no increased noise, no buffeting, no airspeed abnormalities and the fuel burn was spot on. |
Quoting 320tech (Reply 12): how did they determine it wasn't a bird strike? |
Quoting 320tech (Reply 12): You guys think air loads did that? |
Quoting SlamClick (Reply 14): The basic part is engineered to handle the airloads but that assumes no damage to its material. |
Quoting SlamClick (Reply 14): Ding it, and you weaken it, and that is one of the problems with aircraft made from man-made, composite materials. |
Quoting Tdscanuck (Reply 15):
That's a problem with all monocoque and semi-monocoque structures (the shear capability of dinged panel drops precipitously). It's not unique to composites. |
Quoting SlamClick (Reply 14): There was a well known incident where one of the super guppies had its upper fuselage area collapse in flight, under airloads. Countdown until 2H4 posts a picture of that: |
Quoting SlamClick (Reply 16): Metal castings and forgings and the like also get weaknesses and there are a number of tests for that as well (dye checks, magnaflux and the like) but I have to confess much ignorance in the area of such testing for the various types of "composite" materials. My experience so far is mostly in just seeing it replaced when damage is suspected. |
Quoting Tdscanuck (Reply 20): Composite NDT has come a long way. Though still not quite as good as metal, you can pick up an awful lot with ultrasonics. There's also the highly sophisticated "tap test" that's actually quite good for detecting skin/core disbond in honeycomb panels. NDT is good enough that you can make the solid-rocket boosters for a Delta out of CFRP and catch any critical cracks before the case delivers |
Quoting SlamClick (Reply 8): Seems quite likely. Though I've had bird strikes with-and-without blood and feathers remaining. Could also have been struck by a piece of ground equipment, even in a hangar somewhere, then the persons involved decided not to tell anyone. |
Quoting Starlionblue (Reply 23): I think what Captain Click meant was that it might have been damaged without any evidence visible from the outside. |