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AFGROW | DTD Handbook

Handbook for Damage Tolerant Design

  • DTDHandbook
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    • Sections
      • 1. Introduction
      • 2. Fundamentals of Damage Tolerance
      • 3. Damage Size Characterizations
      • 4. Residual Strength
        • 0. Residual Strength
        • 1. Introduction
        • 2. Failure Criteria
        • 3. Residual Strength Capability
        • 4. Single Load Path Structure
        • 5. Built-Up Structures
        • 6. References
      • 5. Analysis Of Damage Growth
      • 6. Examples of Damage Tolerant Analyses
      • 7. Damage Tolerance Testing
      • 8. Force Management and Sustainment Engineering
      • 9. Structural Repairs
      • 10. Guidelines for Damage Tolerance Design and Fracture Control Planning
      • 11. Summary of Stress Intensity Factor Information
    • Examples

Section 4.0. Residual Strength

The strength of a structure can be significantly affected by the presence of a crack and is usually substantially lower than the strength of the undamaged structure.  To prevent catastrophic failure, one must evaluate the load carrying capacity that will exist in the potentially cracked structure throughout its expected service life.  The load carrying capacity of a cracked structure is the residual strength of that structure and it is a function of material toughness, crack size, crack geometry and structural configuration.