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International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 04, No 06 SPL, October 2011, pp 648-651

Sanya Maria Gomez Alice Mathai

Numerical Analysis of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Aircraft Wing

M.Tech Student, Structural Engineering, M A College of Engineering, Kothamangalam 686 666, sanyagomez@gmail.com Professor, Civil Engineering Department, M A College of Engineering, Kothamangalam 686 666

ABSTRACT: Hypersonic Aircraft is used to transport satellites or humans to space. Wing of a hypersonic aircraft is one of the crucial components which determine the performance of the aircraft. The main group of materials used in aircraft construction has been wood, steel, Aluminium alloys and more recently, titanium alloys and fibre reinforced composites. Several factors influence the selection of material of which strength allied to lightness is the most important. Composite materials are well known for their excellent combination of high structural stiffness and low weight. Composite material consists of glass (GFRP) or carbon (CFRP) set in a matrix of plastic or epoxy resin, which is mechanically or chemically protective. CFRP is seen to have a modulus twice & strength three times that of Aluminium alloy, the conventional material used in aircraft construction. In the present work the aircraft wing components like ribs, spars and panels are analysed considering both isotropic and composite materials. Since each laminate in the composite material can have distinct fibre orientations which may vary from the adjoining laminates, the optimum ply orientation is also obtained as a result of the parametric study conducted using ANSYS finite element package by varying the orientation sequence in the composite. From the studies conducted regarding the weight reduction, it is estimated that replacement of Al. alloy by CFRP results in 34.82% saving in the total structural weight of the aircraft wing. KEY WORDS: Hypersonic Wing, Static Analysis, CFRP, Ply Orientation, Finite Element Model. INTRODUCTION As an aircraft moves through the air, the air molecules material have been to reduce weight of planes and to have near the aircraft are disturbed and move around the highly performing flying machines. Composite material aircraft. How the air re-acts to the aircraft depends upon also has contributed to those secondary objectives as the ratio of the speed of the aircraft to the speed of sound saving of assembling manpower. through the air [20]. Because of the importance of this Typical speeds for hypersonic aircraft are greater than speed ratio, aerodynamicists have designated it with a 3000 mph and Mach number M > 5. Thus, it will be special parameter called the Mach number. Mach experiencing the flight environment of an upper stage in Number was named after the Austrian physicist Ernst launch vehicle during its ascend phase and the flight Mach. Mach 1 is the speed of sound, which is conditions of an aircraft during its descend phase. Since approximately 760 miles per hour at sea level. An airplane lift and drag depend on the square of the velocity, flying less than Mach 1 is travelling at subsonic speeds, hypersonic aircraft do not require a large wing area. faster than Mach 1 would be supersonic speeds and Mach 2 would be twice the speed of sound [22]. For aircraft CONFIGURATION OF HYPERSONIC AIRCRAFT speeds which are much greater than the speed of sound, WING The wing of hypersonic aircraft considered in the present the aircraft is called hypersonic. Weight reduction is highly desirable for aircraft vehicles study is double delta in plan form. The cross section of since light vehicles have improved range, fuel savings, wing is reflex aerofoil. The sweep back angle of wing is and increased payload. Aircraft structures are typified by 45 degree. The wing has two control surfaces at the tailing arrangements of thin, load bearing skins, frames and edge. The wing has a root chord of 2085 mm and tip stiffeners, fabricated from lightweight, high strength chord of 290 mm. [10]. The various structural components materials of which aluminium alloys are the most widely of a hypersonic aircraft wing structure considered are: used examples. The increased complexities in the flight 1. Panels Top and bottom skin regime and loading conditions led to the search of a 2. Spars - Front and Rear spar competitive material for wing structures. Carbon fiber 3. Ribs Root rib, Rib 1, rib 2 and Tip rib reinforced polymer-[CFRP] has over the past two decades become an increasingly notable material used in structural The air loads act directly on the wing cover, which engineering applications. Much of the fuselage of the new transmits the loads to the ribs. The ribs transmit the loads Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 XWB will be to the spar webs and distribute the load between them in composed of CFRP, making the aircraft lighter than a proportion to the web stiffness. The use of several spars comparable aluminum fuselage, with the added benefit of permit a reduction in rib stresses and also provides a better less maintenance, superior fatigue resistance and high fuel support for the span wise bending. efficiency. Due to the high ratio of strength to weight, Ribs are used to hold the panel to contour shape. The rib also has another major purpose, to transfer or distribute CFRP is widely used in micro air vehicles (MAVs). FRPs are commonly used in the aerospace, automotive, the loads. The ribs provide stability to spars and panels. marine, and construction industries [18]. Manufacturers of The primary function of the wing skin is to form an not only commercial airplanes but also military planes and impermeable surface for supporting the aerodynamic helicopters have developed various usage of composite pressure distribution from which the lifting capability of the wing is derived. material. In every case, objectives of using composite

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Numerical Analysis of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Aircraft Wing Structural Layout The front spar of aircraft wing is placed about 15% of the wing chord and inclined to 45 to fuselage longitudinal axis to facilitate mounting of leading edge and provide space for accommodating landing gear. The rear spar of aircraft wing is placed about 68% of wing chord to facilitate mounting of control surfaces. The rear spar is oriented normal to the fuselage axis for better load transfer. Four ribs are connected to the spars to form the structural frame. The ribs are placed at the root (root rib), wing strake to basic wing junction (rib-1), inner and outer elevon mounting bracket junction (rib-2) and wing tip (tip rib). The root rib is placed at the wing root, close to the fuselage side. The skin of the wing is made in two parts and placed over the spars and ribs at top and bottom. The primary objective is to develop a light vehicle that can safely complete the required flights in its specified life and to accomplish this at minimum cost. Composite materials consist of strong fibres such as glass or carbon set in a matrix of plastic or epoxy resin, which is mechanically and chemically protective. The incorporation of carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP), a composite laminate material for the wing panels effectively reduces the weight of the panels thereby reducing the total weight of the wing. Weight reduction and lower production costs are important goals for aircraft structural engineers and researchers. In recent years, the use of advanced composite structures has increased to realize these goals. Wing Model The model consists of a hypersonic aircraft wing. The various structural components are top and bottom panels, four ribs (root rib, tip rib and two intermediate ribs) and front and rear spars. To study the effects of composite laminate (CFRP) when compared to the conventional material (Al. alloy) on wing structures, the panels were modeled as orthotropic CFRP laminates and the remaining components were modeled as isotropic material. The material properties of isotropic and orthotropic materials are as given in table 1. Table 1 Material Properties of Al. Alloy and CFRP Material Property Al. Alloy CFRP (M55j/914 (2014-T6) prepreg) Mod. of Elasticity 70 GPa 270 Gpa Mass Density 1760 kg/m3 2700 kg/m3 Poissons Ratio 0.3 0.365 Tensile Strength 0.380 GPa 1.8 GPa Shear Strength 0.260 GPa 0.092 GPa ANSYS is a general purpose finite element modeling package for numerically solving a wide variety of problems. The wing model was first created in CATIA and the analysis was carried out using ANSYS software. Composite materials can be modeled in ANSYS using specialized elements called layered elements - Shell 99 element. The element has six degrees of freedom at each node: translations in the nodal x, y and z directions and rotations about the nodal x, y and z axes. The Shell 63-

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Elastic Shell element was used to model the intermediate components of the wing. The section details of the wing components are given in table 2. Table 2 Section Details of Wing Components Structural Component Section Detail Panel Top and bottom skin Root rib Flanges Root rib-Web Rib1,Rib2 & tip rib Flanges & web Front spar-Flanges & web Rear spar-Flanges & web 2mm 5mm 3mm 3mm 5mm 7.5mm

The primary load on the wing is the aerodynamic pressure. The finite element mesh of the wing model is shown in Fig 1

Fig. 1 Finite element mesh of the wing model The wing model with the elements and boundary conditions given are shown in Fig. 2. The boundary condition was given as fixed at the root rib where the wing attaches to the fuselage.

Fig. 2 Wing model with the elements and boundary conditions

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 04, No 06 SPL, October 2011, pp 648-651

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Sanya Maria Gome, Alice Mathai

The resultant Von Mises Stresses and displacements for the panels corresponding to the ply orientations were studied. The Von Mises stress for ply layout sequence [02/902/+45/-45/902/02] ns is shown in fig.3

The combined wing was then analyzed using the ANSYS software to obtain the Von Mises stresses and displacements at the nodal points. Max. values of stresses and displacements of individual components are given in table 3 Table 3 Maximum values of stresses and displacements Wing Component Von-Mises Displacement Stress (N/mm2) (mm) Root Rib 195.51 3.37 Rib 1 13.17 0.15 Rib 2 14.43 0.09 Tip Rib 99.02 0.57 Front Spar 52.18 1.22 Rear Spar 72.31 5.57 The wing has the configuration of a double delta wing. The hypersonic aircraft will be boosted to hypersonic speeds using Solid motor booster and then it separates and descends using aerodynamic control. Thus, it will be experiencing the flight environment of an upper stage in launch vehicle during its ascend phase and the flight conditions of an aircraft during its descend phase. Thus the hypersonic aircraft has to survive extreme hot environment during its flight regime in descend phase. Therefore, its external surface consisting of the top and bottom panels are made with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) which has very low coefficient of thermal expansion. Each laminate can have distinct fiber orientations which may vary from the adjoining laminates. The present study focuses on the effect of the ply orientation on the strength of the panels. The CFRP material was modeled using the finite element software ANSYS. The CFRP material was modeled using shell 99 element. In this study the top and bottom panels of the aircraft wing were modeled as CFRP material consisting of 20 plies each. The thickness of each ply was taken as 0.1mm. In order to study the effect of ply orientation the following layup sequences were selected [02/902/+//902/02] ns. The angle was varied from 0 degree to 90 degree at intervals of 15 degrees each. The ply sequences selected for this study are given below in table 4. Table 4 Ply sequences selected for this study Ply Sequences [02/902/+0/-0/902/02] ns [02/902/+15/-15/902/02] ns [02/902/+30/-30/902/02] ns [02/902/+45/-45/902/02] ns [02/902/+60/-60/902/02] ns [02/902/+75/-75/902/02] ns [02/902/+90/-90/902/02] ns

Fig. 3 Von Mises stress for [02/902/+45/-45/902/02] ns The resultant Von Mises Stresses and displacements for the bottom panel corresponding to the ply orientations are as given below in table 5. Table 5 Maximum values of stresses and displacements for different ply orientations Ply Layout Von-Mises Displacement Sequence Stress (N/mm2) (mm) [02/902/+0/209.55 9.57 0/902/02] ns [02/902/+15/188.02 6.75 15/902/02] ns [02/902/+30/216.39 6.86 30/902/02] ns [02/902/+45/136.07 3.89 45/902/02] ns [02/902/+60/186.38 5.54 60/902/02] ns [02/902/+75/196.05 5.72 75/902/02] ns [02/902/+90/251.19 9.92 90/902/02] ns Von-Mises stresses and displacements obtained for the various ply layout sequences were studied. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The static analysis of the aircraft wing was carried out in ANSYS Software. From the static analysis the stresses and displacements were found out. The maximum value of the Von-Mises stress was found to be for the root rib having a value of 195.51 N/mm2. The maximum displacement was found to be for the rear spar. The largest magnitude of displacement was obtained at the free end of the combined wing. The total weight of the aircraft wing made of the conventional material was seen to be 972kg while that replaced with CFRP weighed only 633.6kg. Hence the replacement of Aluminium alloy by CFRP reduces the total weight of the aircraft wing by 34.82% thereby reducing the total weight of the aircraft tremendously. From the parametric study conducted by

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 04, No 06 SPL, October 2011, pp 648-651

Numerical Analysis of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Aircraft Wing varying the ply orientations the Von Mises stress value for the ply sequence [02/902/+45/-45/902/02] ns has the least value of 136.07N/mm2. The displacement in the bottom plate corresponding to the ply sequence [02/902/+45/45/902/02] ns has the least value, which proves that this ply sequence is seen to have better performance under the pressure loads given. CONCLUSIONS Wing of a hypersonic aircraft was considered for structural analysis using finite element method. From the static analysis the resultant stresses and displacements were obtained. A study was also conducted to verify the suitability of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) to be used as the structural material replacing the conventional material used in aircraft structures aluminium alloy. In the parametric study conducted the panels of the aircraft wing were modeled as CFRP material consisting of 20 plies. The thickness of each ply was taken as 0.1mm and the following layup sequences were selected [02/902/+/-/902/02] ns = [0/0/90/90/+//90/90/0/0] ns. The angle was varied from 0 to 90 at intervals of 15 each. The following conclusions can be drawn from the studies conducted. 1. The Von Mises stress distribution in the case of wing is less towards the wings leading and trailing edges and decreases towards the wing tip. 2. The variation in fiber orientation at the same skin thickness will produce the variation in the Von Mises stress (increase or decrease). 4. Maximum values of Von-Mises stress was observed at the support position of the combined wing. 5. The largest magnitude of displacement was obtained at the free end of the combined wing. 6. The replacement of Aluminium alloy by CFRP reduces the total weight of the aircraft wing by 34.82%. 7. The parametric study shows that, in the bottom plate the stress pattern for [02/902/+45/-45/902/02] ns seems to have a more uniform distribution when compared to the other ply sequences studied. 8. The Von Mises stress value for the ply sequence [02/902/+45/-45/902/02] ns is seen to have the least value of 136.07N/mm2. The displacement corresponding to the ply sequence [02/902/+45/-45/902/02] ns is seen to have the least value, which proves that this ply sequence is seen to have better performance. Thus it is desirable to adopt the ply sequence [02/902/+45/-45/902/02] ns for composite aircraft wings in comparison with the other ply sequences considered in the present study. REFERENCES
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International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 04, No 06 SPL, October 2011, pp 648-651