Durable and Damage Tolerant Composite Aft Fuselage Technology

Composite rotorcraft structures offer many benefits to today's warfighter. In addition to being lightweight to improve aircraft performance, structures fabricated from composites are exceptionally durable and damage tolerant. Boeing, the US Army's Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), and the US Army's Aviation Development Directorate - Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (ADD-AATD) have proven the benefits of the Composite Aft Fuselage technology through ballistic and structural testing, culminating in the first successful live fire test and follow-on structural fatigue test of a composite tailboom for military rotorcraft. The durability and damage tolerance will be further demonstrated through an enhanced platform fatigue test, including the introduction of damage and composite field repairs. Documented herein are the background, load derivation, test setup, and results to date of two structural fatigue tests demonstrating the exceptional durability and damage tolerance of the Composite Aft Fuselage Technology through exercise of the composite tailboom.