Laboratory Characterization of Fatigue Performance of AM2 Aluminum Airfield Matting

• Published in: Journal of materials in civil engineering 2016-11, Vol.28 (11)
• Main Authors: Rushing, Timothy W, Howard, Isaac L, Jordon, J. Brian, Allison, Paul G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging aircraft; Aircraft; Aluminum base alloys; Computer simulation; Deformation; Fatigue (materials); Fatigue failure; Mathematical models; Technical Papers
• ISSN: 0899-1561; 1943-5533
• DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001620

AbstractAM2, an airfield matting system made from extruded 6061-T6 aluminum alloy, is used to construct temporary aircraft operating surfaces. This matting system can support heavy aircraft loads even when placed directly over graded in situ soils. This paper presents the development of a test protocol and corresponding relationships that can be used to predict fatigue failure of AM2’s mechanical joints over any subgrade California bearing ratio (CBR) when subjected to high tire pressure single-wheel aircraft loading. First, full-scale simulated aircraft traffic experiments were conducted over sections of AM2 installed on subgrades with CBRs of 6, 10, 15, 25, and 100% to monitor subgrade deformation and fatigue failure. An increasing amplitude displacement function developed from a subgrade deformation model was then used to create a new laboratory procedure to simulate fatigue experienced by the matting system’s complex mechanical connectors under moving aircraft loads. Laboratory test results had strong correlations with field data and, therefore, have promise for predicting fatigue performance without the expense of full-scale experiments.