Review of investigations on aeronautical fatigue in the Federal Republic of Germany

This review was written as the German contribution to the ICAF-Minutes. It contains summarized results of investigations in the field of fatigue gained by industry and research organizations. Most of the subjects are fatigue test results from specimens and components under constant amplitude, program and random loading. Other reports concern investigations about the cyclic stress-strain behaviour as well as crack propagation, fracture mechanics and residual strength. A considerable number of reports on investigations of composite materials, especially of graphite epoxies. Their main topics are material properties under service loading conditions and the damage tolerance behaviour of composite structures. Comparisons of different approaches for the prediction of fatigue life and reports on full-scale fatigue testing on aircraft structure are an essential part of this review.