Originally Posted by
ampclamp
Beefed up before the current NG problems were found, perhaps expecting the NGs were adequate and would never likely have a cracking problem in that area?
I understand the PFs were supposed to be a life of airframe part of the structure. Beefed up enough? Time will tell.
It may pose some questions in future for the Max, but right now it is the least of their concerns
beefed up in relation to increased loads. What is frustrating with airframe structures is the difficulty of protecting structure from cyclic stresses (dynamic case) which are more difficult to model. You could build the structure up significantly but still come up against high cycle fatigue if there is a vibrational mode that you haven’t modelled correctly. Aeroelastics are another significant complication (together with Aeroservoelastics) which are rarely encountered in other engineering fields. The compromises to provide economically competitive structures vs aircraft with a reliable long term structural integrity are as old as aviation. This issue has been spotted now and something is being done about it, which is the key differentiator between this and the MCAS issues.