Evaluation of the probability distribution of pitting corrosion fatigue life in aircraft materials

Corrosion and fatigue properties of aircraft materials are known to have a considerable scatter due to the random nature of materials, loading, and environmental conditions. A probabilistic approach for predicting the pitting corrosion fatigue life has been investigated which captures the effect of the interaction of the cyclic load and corrosive environment and all stages of the corrosion fatigue process (i.e. the pit nucleation and growth, pit-crack transition, short- and long-crack propagation). The probabilistic model investigated considers the uncertainties in the initial pit size, corrosion pitting current, and material properties due to the scatter found in the experimental data. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to define the failure probability distribution. Predicted cumulative distribution functions of fatigue life agreed reasonably well with the existing experimental data.