The battle against corrosion starts at the design office. Aircraft manufacturers use directives prepared by corrosion specialists about the allowable material combinations and the corrosion protection to be applied. Corrosion on exterior skin panels is obvious and can easily be detected as damage to the decoration paint scheme. This corrosion, often of the filiform type, can eventually lead to repainting to keep the aesthetical appearance to an acceptable level. Other types of corrosion occur on the inside and can cause unplanned failure, disassembly, repair and replacement. It can also have flight safety consequences, if a corrosion initiated crack occurs. An example of interior corrosion is the corrosion of the skin and interior structure caused by isolation blankets. These blankets shall be applied in a way that contact with the skin is avoided. Another well-known trouble area is the structure below toilets and pantry area due to spillage in service or during servicing of, from corrosion point of view, aggressive fluids. Sometimes corrosion sensitive material combinations cannot be avoided for functional reasons. In the case of an aluminium insert in carbon reinforced epoxy the carbon will act as cathode and the aluminium will be attacked in the presence of an electrolyte (water). Therefore contact between carbon and aluminium shall be avoided or the metal of the insert shall be changed into corrosion resistant steel or titanium. Another item of attention is found in the application of anti-static precautions. Plastic materials in an air stream can get electrically charged and can discharge to the surrounding air with sparking. The induced electro-magnetic field can disturb antenna signals e.g. radar in case of the nose radome. To avoid this an electrical conductive paint is applied.


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    Title :

    Aerospace corrosion control symposium - corrosion behind the sheets


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2002


    Size :

    7 Seiten, 9 Bilder


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Storage medium


    Language :

    English







    Aerospace corrosion control

    British Library Conference Proceedings | 2003


    Aerospace Corrosion Control

    Emerald Group Publishing | 1989