F-16 Wing Structure Lifecycle

The most widely used military aircraft in existence today, the Lockheed Martin F-16 Falcon, has provided a standard baseline for small fighter jet lifecycle structural integrity studies. Due to the high stress environment of combat flight, the lifecycle analysis of the F-16 provides key insight into design considerations for future aircraft. The United States Air Force is already using the analysis done on the F-16 Falcon on newer fighter aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35 to carry over the lessons learned from this very successful programme. In this analysis, real-life data collected from twenty years of the Air Force’s Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP) is reviewed to highlight the most important advances in the structure of the F-16. In order to focus on the most stressed part of the aircraft, the analysis is only done on the wings. First, the F-16 crack database (CIRE) is reviewed to find the most common locations on the wing where cracking occurs. Next, certain exceptional cases are considered in order to understand unusual behavior. Then, the most detrimental cracks are analyzed to discuss potential risks if minimal repairs are done. After this, the design repairs for permanently reversing and preventing future cracks are reviewed to show effectiveness. Finally, predictions are made on the lifecycle and future areas of structural concern for the F-16 wing.