Topic: ANALYSIS OF MATERIALS ON THE PRIMARY STRUCTURE OF CAP BELL

HELICOPTER, UH-IH (HUEY II)

Abstract

The need of analyze a structural part in an helicopter, that we show in this report,
appears when the structural part (called CAP) shows a crack, according to the
inspection reports of April 17 2004. These aircrafts were manufactured between 1965-
1970 therefore its degradation may be a significant factor, additionally, this structure
was design for a specific conditions of operation. We can stand out that for the time
when these machines were manufactured; the technological developments in materials
(especially aluminum alloys) are restricted to the aerospace industry.

Due to operational index of these machines, it was necessary to deploy a program to

modernize the Huey II with the headquarters. This program is the only improvement in
our days for the UH-1H and looking a surpassing in quality and performance. The Huey
II combines the new commercial dynamic components with a more reliable engine, the
Honeywell T53 L 703, leading to increase the power by almost 275% in work
conditions. Huey II also increases the maximum starting weight to 10,500 lbs and
decrease direct operating cost by almost 30%. In the process of refurbishing of the Bell
UH-1H (Huey) to Bell UH-1H-II (HUEY II), the main fuselage remain the original
settings and a structural reinforcement was provided by the renovation kit for support
the increased power. Although, they made a little modification in the process of
repowering of the fuselage and taking into account that the cabin didn't have changes
and had few reinforcements, they was not taken into account substantive changes in
the materials and forms for the structure. The repowering of these machines was
started in 1999. [1]

The first step in this analysis was determined if the operation mode of these aircraft
was decisive in breaking the CAP. This hypothesis was enounced by previous analysis.
In order to validate or refute this idea, we take the operational sheets of these
helicopters and we observe if the machine had a torque overhead the maximum and
we compare this data with the failure of the CAPs. We can't found a relationship
between this overloads and the failure of the CAP, because this part show cracks in
helicopters without overloads also. For this reason, the overloads weren't relevant for
us. In conclusion, the pilots didn't have a direct incidence in the damage of the CAP.
The researches before our study doesn’t contemplate a materials analysis and these
were focused in to the stresses state of the piece. In particular, they watch the increase
in engine power coupled with other factors like the possible causes of the fracture of
the workpiece.

In the aeronautical industry, the most important thing is that the materials have a
certain resistance to forces applied in service. For this reason, the designers must
combine different mechanical and physical properties such as failure resistance and
low density. Moreover, the fractures are caused by the use of unsuitable materials for
the operation, maybe caused by a bad redesign, or by a renovation of the part without
proper review, with unexpected results due to limited knowledge of their characteristics.
In operation conditions, the different pieces of any machine are exposed to chemicals
agents and the inclement of the weather. These conditions cause a damage and may
lead to the failure, but the most common failure and that is part of this analysis is a type
of gradual failure that is a consequence of a prior process that has been accumulating
and causing damage to the material. The fracture of a material, in the simplest
definition is the separation of a body in two or more parts in response to a static tension
applied and is always initiated in defects present in the material. For the specific case
of the CAP, we suppose that the crack propagates with a tiny plastic deformation, and
once it starts to spread, the material is unable to stop it and appears a catastrophic
fracture. In the case of the helicopters, when a fracture is detected, the machine
remains in land until the CAP is changed. The direction of movement of the crack is
perpendicular to the direction of the applied load and produces a relatively flat fracture
surface. In some materials, crack propagation occurs along the grain boundaries, this
is called intergranular fracture [2]. This type of fracture usually occurs as a result of a
phenomenon that weakened the grain boundaries and especially in the 7075 T6
aluminum alloy. This is the material in which the CAP is built according to the
maintenance manual of the manufacturer. Then, the workpiece presents a crack
assisted by the environment and intragranular corrosion, that suppose a preferential
corrosive attack in grain boundaries.

A physical property of aluminum is the low relative density that is just 2.7 times that of
water and approximately one third that of the steel or copper, additionally, the
aluminum tensile strength is bigger two times if compares with the of mild steel. The
heat-treatable aluminum alloys increase your resistant by means of a controlled aging.
In these alloys we can include the 7xxx series, where the zinc is the main alloying
element [3]. In order to found the chemical composition and the mechanical properties
of the part to determine the possible causes of the fracture, we made a metallographic
analysis, a fractography by SEM microscopy and an analysis of the chemical
composition made by EDAX. The metallography was performed in the materials
laboratory of the Technological Faculty of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de
Caldas, and the fractography and the analysis of the chemical composition was made
in the certified laboratory of the Investigations and Test Institute (IEI) of the
Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogota headquarters). The results of these studies
are as follows: CAP may have been manufactured using low-speed extrusion, this
condition favoring the formation of cracks [4] [5]. The material was cold forming due to
the presence of elongated grains; there are lines that show intermetallic oxides
(intergranular corrosion). From the above analysis, we can deduce that one of the
possible causes for the cracking of the structural component is the presence of
intergranular oxides; this is a general characteristic of aluminum alloys 7075-T6, which,
together with the implementation of an effort, leads to the generation and propagation
of a crack. In the chemical analysis, we use the same samples used in the
metallographic analyses in order to confirm the metallographic results. The samples
was taken to the laboratory of scanning electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) and
EDAX probe, and in the results, we can detect a high percentages of iron and silicon,
which are harmful to the alloy, more precisely for the mechanical properties. But, we
believe that is necessary a bigger number of sample for the chemical analysis to verify
the previous results.
Based on the results of the research process we can propose a new material that
doesn’t have intragranular corrosion, a probable cause of failure of the CAP. This
material shows the advances of the aluminum alloys in the last year. The 7475 -T7351
is a material that improves the mechanical and chemical properties with respect to the
original material 7075-T6, but, it has the same relative density. This physical property is
the most important restriction on aircraft redesign because can't be changed. In this
case the density of both alloys is 2.8g/cm3 [3], and this value don't leave aside the
reliability and weight restrictions imposed by the BELL design department.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] PROGRAMA DE REPOTENCIACIÓN PARA LA POLICIA NACIONAL DE

COLOMBIA DIRECCIÓN ANTINARCOTICOS DEL HELICOPTERO UH-IH A
HUEY II, BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON
[2] ANGLADA, Marc. ALCALÁ, Jorge. LLANES, Luis. MATEO, Antonio y SALÁN,
Núria. Fractura de Materiales. Barcelona. Edicions de la Universitat Politècnica de
Catalunya, SL. 2002. 238 p.
[3] COMMITTEE, ASM Handbook. HANDBOOK, VOLUME 2, Properties and
Selection: Nonferrous Alloys and Special-Purpose Materials. United States of
America. 10 Edition Metals Handbook. 1992. 3470 p.
[4] COMMITTEE, ASM Handbook. HANDBOOK, VOLUME 12, Fractography.
United States of America. ASM International. 1992. 857 p.
[5] Manual sobre conformado en: Estampado y prensado a máquina, Nº
Topográfico 621.984 B45e
[6] www.alcoa.com