Abstract:

     Many aircraft structures are made of metal, and the most insidious form of damage to those structures is corrosion. If this corrosion left unchecked, it can cause eventual structural failure. This project provides an overview to the problems associated with aircraft corrosion. The appearance of corrosion varies with the metal. On the surface of aluminum alloys and magnesium, it appears as pitting and etching, and is often combined with a gray or white powdery deposit. On copper and copper alloys, the corrosion forms a greenish film; on steel, a reddish corrosion byproduct commonly referred to as rust. When the gray, white, green, or reddish deposits are removed, each of the surfaces may appear etched and pitted, depending upon the length of exposure and severity of attack. If these surface pits are not too deep, they may not significantly alter the strength of the metal; however, the pits may become sites for crack development, particularly if the part is highly stressed. Some types of corrosion burrow between the inside of surface coatings and the metal surface, and can spread until the part fails.

In this project a classification of corrosion is performed with an effort had been made in order to classify and understand the different types of corrosion.  After gaining some knowledge about this phenomenon and the factors affecting it, which enable us to suggest a preventive maintenance to improve the corrosion resistance of aircraft: improvements in materials, surface treatments, insulation, and in particular, modern protective finishes. All of these have been aimed at reducing the overall maintenance effort, as well as improving reliability.

In spite of these improvements, corrosion and its control is a very real problem that requires continuous preventive maintenance. It is the main objective of the present project to suggest procedures to control, prevent, and reduce the different types of corrosion in aircraft structure.