| Abstract: | The purpose of this study was to investigate experimentally the effects associated with modification of a loading spectrum recorded from P‐3 a maritime aircraft on fatigue crack growth behaviour. The material is 2324‐T39 Al alloy widely used in the aircraft industry. Experiments were conducted using the full spectrum and modified versions of it such as only ‘positive’ (no negative loads) or with reduced (clipped) high peaks. The results show that the compressive loads decrease fatigue life of the specimen by ～300%. Furthermore, by running tests with clipped peaks it was found that the fatigue life was shorten significantly due to reduction of crack growth retardation caused by highest tensile peaks. Multiple tests were conducted in order to establish a scatter in the experimental data under spectrum loads. |
