Sonic fatigue of launch vehicle components

Wright Laboratory has long been a leader in the technologies required for aerospace structures. One of these driving technology areas is that of the dynamic environments of acoustics and vibration to which structures are exposed and required to survive. This paper presents an overview of sonic fatigue of launch vehicle components. An experimental program to develop sonic fatigue design criteria for a proposed thermal protection system is reviewed. Wright Laboratory's experimental facilities utilized to subject structures to simulated launch vehicle environments which are necessary to generate the experimental data required to provide sonic fatigue design criteria are described.