The International Committee on Aeronautical Fatigue and Structural Integrity (ICAF) was formed in 1951 (under the name “The International Committee on Aeronautical Fatigue”) in response to growing concerns regarding fatigue problems in metal aircraft structures. It is an informal organization that consists of a General Secretary and fourteen National Delegates, from member countries. In 2010 the name was changed to the present one in order to clarify that the scope of the committee had broadened over the years and now also includes topics such as damage formation and growth in composite structures, structural health and loads monitoring, probabilistic modeling of structural integrity, corrosion control, etcetera. The acronym ICAF was maintained.
Contents
The stated aims of ICAF are to encourage contacts between people actively engaged in aircraft structural integrity problems and to exchange information, experience, opinions and ideas concerning aeronautical fatigue and fatigue-related subjects. To this end a conference and, since 1959, a symposium are organised every two years for attendance by representatives of industry, universities and institutes, military specialists, regulatory agencies and aircraft operators throughout the world.
The two-day conference consists of reviews of aeronautical fatigue and other structural integrity activities presented by the National Delegates. It is followed by a three-day symposium for specialist papers presented by authors with design, manufacturing, airworthiness regulations, operations and research backgrounds. The symposium also includes the Plantema Memorial Lecture, delivered by a leading member of the structural integrity community, and the presentation of the Schijve Award to a selected young researcher.
Participation in the ICAF meetings is open for anybody interested in the topics. The next meeting will be held in June 2017, in Nagoya, Japan. ICAF has recently taken up the initiative to develop and compile definitions of all common concepts, notions, terms and phrases that are relevant to aeronautical fatigue and structural integrity, in order to promote clear discussions and transfer of knowledge. A link will be provided on this wiki shortly. ICAF has no formal constitution or laws or funds. Its activities are possible only by the interest of the member countries and the activities of the National Delegates and the General Secretary.
Member countries and National Delegates
The current ICAF member countries and their National Delegates are listed below. The General Secretary is elected by the National Delegates from their ranks and is appointed for an indefinite period of time. The present General Secretary, Dr. Anders Blom, has held this position since 2007. The appointment of the National Delegates is also permanent. On resignation, a delegate nominates a successor for approval by the other delegates and the General Secretary. The National Delegates usually come from a non-profit research institute, although some delegates have a position in a university or within the aerospace industry. Originally, ICAF started with five member countries only, while other countries were invited to join later. New member countries can still be invited to join ICAF upon agreement of the committee members.
Plantema Memorial Lecture
The Plantema Medal has been established by ICAF in 1967. It is a career award that is presented to a selected leading member of the structural integrity community. The award recipient is invited to deliver a keynote lecture at the start of the biennial symposium. This so-called Plantema Memorial Lecture is named after the late Dr. Frederik J. Plantema, co-founder and first General Secretary of ICAF. As of now, the award has been presented 23 times.
Jaap Schijve Award
This biennial award for young and talented academics in the field of aeronautical fatigue has been established in 2007 by Delft University and the National Aerospace Laboratory NLR in the Netherlands. The award is named after Prof. Jaap Schijve, to celebrate his 80th birthday. It consists of a token and a prize of € 5000,=. Recognizing its promotional value, ICAF has offered the opportunity to present the award on the last day of the ICAF symposium. In 2009 the award was presented for the first time, to Dr. Michael Shepard of AFRL for his work on engineered residual stresses for improved structural efficiency. In 2011 the award was presented to Dr. René Alderliesten of Delft University for his work on Fibre Metal Laminates. In 2013 the award was presented to Dr. Chris Wallbrink of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation of Australia for various investigations covering a broad range of aspects of aeronautical fatigue.