FEATI UNIVERSITY

Department of Aeronautical Engineering and

Aircraft Maintenance Technology
S.Y. 2017-2018

AE 412 : Aircraft Structures I

BASIC DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF

AIRCRAFT STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS

Revor E.Velasquez
Gabriel Joshua B.Bautista
Mac Adryel O. Flauta
BSAeE, 4th Year

Engr. Lemuel F. Banal

Instructor

18 January 2018
“The most elaborate analysis possible cannot make a poor design into a good one – any
time available at this stage might better be spent on improving the design.”
Michael Chun-Yung Niu, in the early design stage.

WING STRUCTURE

Any wing requires longitudinal (lengthwise with the wing) members to withstand the bending
moment which are greatest during flight and upon landing. Wing structure must be indicated to a
sufficient strength, stiffness, and light weight structure with a minimum of manufacturing
problems.
The wing is essentially a beam which transmits and gathers all of the applied airload to the
central attachment to the fuselage. For preliminary structural sizing and load purposes it is generally
assumed that the total wing load equals the weight of the aircraft the limit load factor times a
safety factor of 1.5.

INTERNAL STRUCTURE DESIGNS:

https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1932/1932%20-%200360.html

Monospar

 The monospar wing incorporates only one main span wise or longitudinal member in its
construction.
  Ribs or bulkheads supply the necessary contour or shape to the airfoil.

Eurofighter Typhoon, a supersonic aircraft, requires an extremely thin wings, hence uses a multi-
spar layout.
https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=multi+spar+wing&sa=X&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ved=0ahUKEwjujO3KuNzY
AhUDUZQKHbuFCcEQsAQIMw&biw=1396&bih=668#imgrc=9t7a5WmZg-nHSM

Multispar

 The multispar wing incorporates more than one main longitudinal member in its construction.
To give the wing contour, ribs or bulkheads are often included.

Box beam

 The box beam type of wing construction uses two main longitudinal members with connecting
bulkheads to furnish additional strength and to give contour to the wing.
 A corrugated sheet may be placed between the bulkheads and the smooth outer skin so that
the wing can better carry tension and compression loads.
 Typical transport and fighter wings

Several structural arrangements for delta wing box.

There are several types of wing structure for modern high-speed airplanes; thick box beam
structure (usually built up with two or three spars for high aspect-ratio wings, multispar box structure
for lower aspect-ratio wings with thin wing airfoil and delta wing box)
 Skin-Stringer Panels
Wing skins are mostly machined from a thick plate to obtain the required thickness at different
locations and then required pads can be integral; otherwise the pads or doublers have to be riveted
or bonded on the basic skin around cutouts. The machined skins combining with machined stringers
are the most efficient structures to save weight.

Integrally Stiffened Panels

Present trends toward higher performance levels in machines and equipment continue to
place more exacting demands on the design of structural components. In aircraft, where weight is
always a critical problem, integrally stiffened structural sections have proved particularly effective as
a light weight, high-strength construction. Composed of skin and stiffeners formed from the same
unit of raw stock, these one-piece panel sections can be produced by several different techniques.
Size and load requirements are usually the important considerations in selecting the most feasible
process.
Integrally stiffened structures have their greatest advantage in highly loaded applications
because of their minimum section size. Investigations have indicated that an integrally stiffened
section can attain an exceptionally high degree of structural efficiency. A weight reduction of
approximately 10-15% was realized by the use of an integrally stiffened structure.

Spar Configuration
For strength/weight efficiency, the beam (or spar) cap should be designed to make the radius
of gyration of the beam section as large as possible and at the same time maintain a cap section
which will have a high local crippling stress.
The air loads act directly on the wing cover which transmits the loads to the ribs. The ribs
transmit the loads in shear to the spar webs and distribute the load between them in proportion to the
web stiffnesses. In the past it has been customary to design wings with three or more spars. The use
of several spars permits a reduction in rib stresses and also provides a better support for the span
wise bending material.
The aerospace structures engineer is constantly searching for types of structures and
methods of structural analysis and design which will save structural weight and still provide a structure
which is satisfactory from a fabrication and economic standpoint.
 Variable Swept Wing Aircrafts

Various Pivot Wing Mechanisms

 The “shoe-in-track” type offers the advantages of low wing thickness requirements, a
degree of redundancy of load paths, and an efficient load reaction means on the wing-
box side of the joint. Based upon evaluations of this concept, it has been found several distinct
disadvantages. An efficient strength design in this type has less rigidity than some other
concepts.
  Employing a large ring of inclined roller bearings, offers low friction and requires only nominal
depth of wing cross section. On the other hand, this concept has highly redundant load
paths, has the same routing provisions problem as the previous mechanism, and requires a
large number of parts fitting precisely with close tolerances.
 A track-type concept with roller bearing contacts, offers a workable system requiring a
minimum of wing thickness, distributed reaction loads, and low friction. Disadvantages
evident in this design include: (a) the requirement for a large number of close tolerance
parts; (b) the same routing difficulties characteristic of Concepts I and II; (c) many detail
features which adversely affect functional reliability, and (d) the design is highly redundant
and complicated in essentially all respects, particularly the actuation mechanism.
 A single vertical pin-clevis arrangement appears to be a design which is in many ways most
ideal from a structural point of view. It offers the utmost in structural simplicity. Load
paths are determined with confidence, a minimum of volume is occupied by the “hinge”,
actuation mechanism arrangement is simple, very few moving parts are involved, and
a minimum weight design is possible. Disadvantages include: (a) relatively high journal
bearing operating stresses, (b) somewhat greater local wing thickness is required in order
to accomplish the necessary load transfers; and (c) great reliance is placed upon the integrity
of single-load paths.

EMPENNAGE STRUCTURE

Empennage structure evolves essentially as does the wing. The aspect ratio of either a vertical
surface or a horizontal surface usually tends to be smaller than a wing aspect ratio. The low aspect
ratio, of course, means less bending moment because of less span.
The only concentrated loads which must be taken into account are those at the hinges
supporting the movable control surfaces, i.e. elevators or rudders. However, control surfaces are
not designed purely on a strength basis, stiffness of structure to prevent flutter is an important
item in the design. Large deflections of the fixed surface (main box) will impose severe loads on the
movable surface attached to it and may also cause bending at the hinge brackets.
 Typical Arrangement of the Transport Tail
The conventional horizontal stabilizer assembly consists of left and right outboard sections
attached to a center section, or torque box, within the aft fuselage. In large transport planes, the
stabilizer is designed to pivot on two self-aligning bushing type hinge joints attached to a heavy
bulkhead in the fuselage, and the angle of attack is adjusted by means of an electrically driven or
manually operated ball nut and jackscrew, which is attached to the forward side of the center section.
From a static loads standpoint, the design of a T tail is as straightforward as a fuselage-
mounted arrangement. However, because of flutter considerations, it is necessary that the vertical
fin and the attachment of the horizontal tail to be principally designed to stiffness requirements.
The primary parameter for T-tail flutter is, of course, the fin torsional stiffness, and with this
arrangement, the vertical fin stiffness required is heavily dependent on the mass of the horizontal
stabilizer. Because of this T-tail characteristic, it is very important to design for minimum horizontal
tail size in order to minimize the fin stiffness requirement.

Flying Tail Construction of F-16

 The flying tail is made up of an integral main spar (one spar construction) and pivot fitting,
with titanium root and reinforced plastic tip ribs enclosed by the upper and lower skins. Aluminum
honeycomb-cores fill the spaces between the upper and lower skins and are bonded to these
components. Upper and lower skins are graphite epoxy composite material to provide stiffness and
light weight.

Vertical Stabilizer Structure

Structural design of vertical stabilizers is

essentially the same as for horizontal stabilizers.
The vertical stabilizer box is a two- or multi-
spar structure (general aviation airplanes
usually use single spar design) with cover
panels (with or without ribs). The root of the box
is terminated at the aft fuselage juncture with
fittings or splices or the box spars terminate on
bulkheads in the aft fuselage that are canted (for
swept fin) into the plane of the, thus
transmitting the fin loads directly into the
fuselage structure and avoiding the fatigue-
critical structural splices.

FUSELAGE STRUCTURE

The fuselage of a modern aircraft is a stiffened shell commonly referred to as semi-

monocoque construction. A pure monocoque shell is a simple unstiffened tube of thin skins, and
as such is inefficient since unsupported thin sheets are unstable in compression and shear. In order
to support the skin it is necessary to provide stiffening members, frames, bulkheads, stringers
and longerons.
The stiffened shell semi-monocoque type of fuselage construction is similar to wing construction with
distributed bending material. The fuselage as a beam contains longitudinal elements (longerons
and stringers), transverse elements (frames and bulkheads). and its external skin. The longerons
carry the major portion of the fuselage bending moment, loaded by axial forces resulting from the
bending moment. The fuselage skin carries the shear from the applied external transverse and
torsional forces, and cabin pressure.

Typical Semi-monocoque Stiffened Shell

In addition to stabilizing the external skin, stringers also carry axial loads induced by the
bending moment. Frames primarily serve to maintain the shape of the fuselage and to reduce the
column length of the stringers to prevent general instability of the structure. Frame loads are
generally small and often tend to balance each other, and as a result, frames are generally of light
construction.
Bulkheads are provided at points of introduction of concentrated forces such as those from
the wings, tail surfaces and landing gear. Unlike frames, the bulkhead structure is quite
substantial and serves to distribute the applied load into the fuselage skins.
 Truss type fuselage

 Formed by beams, bars and

struts to resist deformation by applied
loads. Usually constructed of steel
tubing welded together in a way that it
resists both tension and compression
loads.
 Advantage being simple.
 Disadvantage is lack of
streamlined shape.

Monocoque type fuselage

 Uses formers, frame

assemblies and bulkhead to form the
shape of the fuselage, the heaviest
load of these are located in intervals to
properly carry concentrated loads such
as wings, powerplants and stabilizers.
The skin is what carry the primary
stresses and keep the fuselage rigid.
 Advantage is extremely rigid
structure that can support itself, good
deal of torsional and lateral stability,
lightweight, more space inside the
structure, no load bearing pillars, relatively fewer materials used in construction.
 Disadvantage is it relies mostly on continuous surface to carry loads, damage to exterior will
compromise integrity on the structure, repairs and modification are difficult.
 Semimonocoque type fuselage

 Which is a modified monocoque which is reinforced by longerons and stringers, both helping
the skin support primary bending loads and prevent tensile and compression stresses from
bending the fuselage.
 Advantage is it leaves a large proportion of the inside free to accommodate crew, passengers
and cargo, bulkhead, frames, stringers and longerons aid in producing a streamlined fuselage
and add to the strength and rigidity of the structure.
 Disadvantage is lot of time taking during finding crack, and lots of rivet bonding

Vertical Location of the Wing relative to the Fuselage

 If the airplane is of the low wing or the high wing type, the entire wing structure can
continue in the way of the airplane body. However, in the mid-wing type or semi-low wing type
(most for military fighter aircraft), limitations may prevent extending the entire wing through the
fuselage, and some of the shear webs as well as the wing cover must be terminated at the side of
the fuselage. However, for the mid-wing type, the wing box structure does not allow to carry through
the fuselage structure, therefore, heavy forging structures are designed to carry through the wing
loads.

Nose Loading Design

Although many passenger transport aircraft which have been converted into freighters have
big upper deck side doors, a pure freighter should have better accessibility via wide open doors in
the front or rear of the fuselage to allow loading in a longitudinal direction. Some military cargo
transports such as the U.S. C-5 and Russian An-124 have used both front and rear loading doors for
quick loading and unloading military equipment in war zone.

LANDING GEAR STRUCTURE

Some time ago, the improvements in the aerodynamic characteristics of the airframe led
designers to make the conventional landing gear with tail wheel or skid, which was then fitted to all
aircraft and made retractable. Although this resulted in a weight increase owing to the installation of
a retraction gear, jacks, retracting and locking mechanism, distributors, valves, etc., experience
proved that the gain in speed achieved by reduction of drag largely offset the weight increase.
The decrease in drag varies from 6% at a speed of 150 mph to 8-10% at a speed of 200 mph. One
should bear in mind that the aircraft fitted with a conventional tail wheel has a considerable angle of
incidence when on the ground. The great difference between this angle and the minimum drag
angle hampers the take-off and also presents an element of discomfort in commercial aircraft.
The tricycle landing gear with nose wheel disposes of these disadvantages. It reduces the
ground roll at take-off with a saving of corresponding energy. Above all, it offers greater
stability, particularly in crosswind landing conditions and in making turns on the ground at high
speeds. In certain aircraft of high gross weight and with multiple main wheels, the directional
movement of the nose wheels is insufficient to provide an acceptable turn radius in relation to the
width of the taxiway and the wheel-base of the aircraft. In consequence, some degree of lateral
freedom must be provided for the rear wheels to give this steering ability.

Main Landing Gear

Nose Landing Gear

 The manufacture of a landing gear necessitates close collaboration with the aircraft designer
right from the design study stage. This collaboration provides joint agreement on, in addition to the
positioning of the gear, such matters as the various attitudes of the aircraft, shock absorber travel
in all conditions encountered, landing gear mounting points, installation of steering controls,
retraction circuits - in short, everything concerned with the operation.
The search for a simple landing gear system – a
question of lightness and economy - is made difficult by
the problem of stowing the gear. Available space is limited
by the size of the fuselage nose section and by use of
relatively thin wing sections (the case of the F- 104
supersonic fighter, where the main landing gear has to be
stowed in the fuselage at the cost of a very complicated
mechanical system).
However, the purpose of an aircraft landing gear
arrangement IS two fold: to dissipate the kinetic energy
of vertical velocity on landing, and to provide ease
and stability for ground maneuvering. The design of
landing gears to perform these functions efficiently has become quite complex with the increasing
loads and diminishing storage space of today’s aircraft.
The designing of a landing gear system is not merely a structural problem. The landing gear
of a modern airplane is a complex machine, capable of reacting the largest local loads on the
airplane. Its function is to convert a relatively uncompromised airborne vehicle into a rather awkward
and lumbering ground machine. In one brief moment the landing gear must make the best of returning
the airplane from its natural environment to a hostile environment - the Earth. In most instances all
this machinery, comprising about 10% of the airplane’s structural weight, must be retracted and
stowed away while the airplane is airborne.
 The general principle of this gear is the coupling of two
wheels in tandem and independently pivoted on trailing
arms at each end of the double-acting shock absorber fitted
horizontally and parallel to the axis of the aircraft. This is
particularly suitable for high-wing aircraft in which the landing
gear retracts into the fuselage main landing gear fairing.
Enables the aircraft to ride smoothly over any
irregularities in the terrain.

Main Gear Oleo-pneumatic Leveling System

The aircraft is capable of landing on any two of the four bogies in the event of a malfunction
with the others. Each leg can be lowered individually, but all four legs are retracted simultaneously.
To spread the load as evenly as possible between the bogies, the oleo-pneumatic suspensions of the
pair on each side are interconnected so that any uneven loading is balanced out.
 Wheel Arrangements
When a new airplane extends the gross weight beyond the scope of existing aircraft weights
or if unusual flotation problems must be dealt with, a more thorough study of runway strengths must
be made.
The gear designer should have several suitable arrangements in mind during the early
stages of design so that he can adapt the gear arrangement to structural supports and wheel well
size and shape.
 REFERENCE
T. H. G. Megson. Aircraft Structures for Engineering Students, 4th Edition. Butterworth-
Heinermann. 2007.
E. F. Bruhn. Analysis and Design of Flight Vehicle Structures. Jacobs Publication. 1973.
M. C. Y. Niu. Airframe Structural Design. Conmilit Press Ltd. 1988.