Composite Materials for Aircraft Structures

Dr. Douglas S. Cairns,

Lysle A. Wood Distinguished Professor

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Montana State University
y

ME 463 Composites,
Fall 2009
 Lysle Wood Professor
• Goals of the Professorship
– Make a positive and significant impact on aerospace
technology nationally and in Montana
– Provide support for aerospace related faculty
d
development
l
– Enhance student learning opportunities for aerospace
related engineering careers

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-2

 Cairns’ Background
• Began composites career in 1978 as a Staff Engineer at the University of Wyoming
– Characterization of compression fatigue mechanisms of F18 vertical stabilizer
(AS1/3501-6) for Navy
– Hygrothermal characterization of Carbon
Carbon, Glass
Glass, and Kevlar with Hercules 3501
3501-6
6 for
Navy and Army
• Senior Engineer, Hercules Aerospace, Magna UT (designed and analyzed space and
aircraft structures manufactured from composite materials)
• Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT, thesis on damage g resistance and
damage tolerance due to impact damage in carbon/epoxy and kevlar/epoxy
structures, research sponsored by FAA
• Manager of Composites Technology, Hercules Materials Company
– US largest manufacturer of structural carbon fibers
– materials for military
militar and commercial aerospace primar
primary str
structural
ct ral applications
• Radius Engineering Board of Directors – since 1988
• Joined Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Montana State University in 1995,
began working on wind turbine blade structures, <$10/lb final part cost target based
on aerospace technology
• Teamed with Boeing engineers to develop and implement Aircraft Structures course
at MSU
• Former Chairman, AIAA Materials Technical Committee
• Co-Chairman Damage Tolerance Committee NASA/ MIL HDBK 17 Composites
• Private Pilot Certificate, 2006
• FAA Consultant for developing composite materials specifications for General
Aviation Aircraft
Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-3
 Introduction

• Composite
p materials are used more and more for
primary structures in commercial, industrial, aerospace,
marine, and recreational structures

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-4

 Composites:

• Composites materials consist of a fibrous reinforcements

bonded together
g with a matrix material
• Occur naturally in your bones, in wood, horns etc.
• Allow the stiffness and strength of the material to change
with direction of loading

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-5

 The Hierarchy for Advanced Structural Materials

• Begin as laboratory curiosity

• Applications to expensive structures (often Military
Aerospace)
• Applications to stuff rich people buy
• Applications to things you and I can afford

Key A
K Assumption:
ti R
Raw materials
t i l are ultimately
lti t l
inexpensive and materials synthesis is ultimately
inexpensive
p

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-6

 Case History- Aluminum

• At one time, more rare than gold and silver; Kings

and Queens wanted aluminum plates
p
• Very Expensive Applications
– Art Deco furnishings in the 1920s and 1930s
– Military
Milit aircraft
i ft during
d i WW II
• Stuff that rich people buy (Post WW II through 1960s)
– General Aviation
– Boats
– Bicycles
• Today
Toda
– Aluminum BBQ grills at K-Mart
– Aluminum shower curtain rods at hardware store

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-7

 Composites:

Carbon Fibers
Fiberglass Fibers Kevlar Fibers

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-8

 Radius Engineering- Salt Lake City, Utah

Radius developed
the Trek carbon
Radius developed Swix carbon fiber fiber bicycle
y used by
y
ski poles; have been used by Gold
G Lance Armstrong
medal Olympic skiers since 1990s

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-9

 Discussion Objective

• Provide a brief introduction to composite materials

and structures in Airplane
p Structures

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-10

 Composites are Damage Tolerant

• F18 Midair Collision (Circa 2002, no injuries)

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-11

Composites are Damage Tolerant (cont.)

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-12

Composites are Damage Tolerant (cont.)

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-13

Composite Vertical Stabilizer and Rudder Damage

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-14

 Composition of Composites

Fiber/Filament
Reinforcement Matrix Composite

• High strength • Good shear properties • High strength

• High stiffness • Low density • High stiffness
• Low density • Good shear properties
• Low densityy

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-15

Carbon is the Emperor

Typical large
tow properties

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-16

 The Emperor’s New Clothes
Two Basic Facts Hamper Application of Carbon Fibers to Primary Structure

• Carbon Fiber is expensive; about 8X-10X E-glass

fibers

• Much more sensitive to fiber mis-alignment

g from
manufacturing process

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-17

 Not Just An Academic Exercise

Consequence of Misalignment in Large, Composite Structure

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-18
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The Emperor’s New Clothes

Two Basic Facts Hamper Application of Carbon Fibers to Primary Structure

updated 3:56 p.m. MT, Fri., Aug 14, 2009

Boeing Co. has discovered another problem with its long-delayed 787 jetliner,
prompting the aircraft maker to halt production of fuselage sections at a factory in Italy.

The Chicago-based company found microscopic wrinkles in the skin of the 787’s
fuselage and ordered Italian supplier Alenia Aeronautica to stop making sections on
June 23, spokeswoman Lori Gunter said Friday. Boeing has started patching the areas.

The plane, built for fuel efficiency from lightweight carbon composite parts, is a priority
f Boeing
for B i as it struggles
t l with
ith dwindling
d i dli orders
d amid
id th
the global
l b l recession.
i

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32415601/ns/business-aviation/

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-19

Difficult to Control Manufacturing Defects in
Production

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-20

 Shorthand Laminate Orientation Code
Tapes or Undirectional Tapes

[45/0/-45/902 /-45/0/45

• Each lamina is labeled by its ply orientation.

• Laminae are listed in sequence with the first number representing the
lamina
a a to which
c tthe
eaarrow
o is
s po
pointing.
t g
[45/0/-45/90] s
• Individual adjacent laminae are separated by a slash if their angles
differ.
• Adjacent laminae of the same angle are depicted by a numerical
subscript indicating the total number of laminae which are laid up in
sequence at that angle.
angle
• Each complete laminate is enclosed by brackets.
• When the laminate is symmetrical and has an even number on each
Tapes or undirectional tapes side of the plane of symmetry (known as the midplane) the code may
be shortened by listing only the angles from the arrow side to the
midplane. A subscript “S” is used to indicate that the code for only one
half of the laminate is shown.

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-21

Shorthand Laminate Orientation Code
Fabrics and Tapes and Fabrics

[(45)/(0)/(45)]

Midplane

Fabrics
• When plies of fabric are used in a laminate. The
[(45)/0(-45)/90] angle of the fabric warp is used as the ply direction
angle.
g The fabric angle g is enclosed in p parentheses
to identify the ply as a fabric ply.
Midplane • When the laminate is composed of both fabric and
tape plies (a hybrid laminate). The parentheses
around the fabric p plies will distinguish
g the fabric
Tapes & Fabrics plies from the tape plies.
• When the laminate is symmetrical and has an odd
number of plies, the center ply is overlined to
p
indicate that it is the midplane.

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-22

Fatigue Performance of Composites Exceeds
That of Metals

1.00
(Reference only)

25/50/25/ Gr/Ep
0.75
Maximum
cyclic
stress/ultimate 0.50
stress

7075-T6 aluminum
0.25
Room
temperature
temperature,
dry
• R = -1.0 0
102 103 104 105 106 107
• K1 = 3.0
Cycles to failure

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-23

 Reduced Corrosion Problems With
Advanced Composites
• Advanced composites do not corrode like metals—
the combination of corrosion and fatigue
g crackingg
is a significant problem for aluminum commercial
fuselage structure.

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-24

 Corrosion Case History – Aloha Airlines

• Low time airframe (but many Ground-Air-Ground cycles, 89,090

compression and decompression pressurization cycles from short hops)
• Operated in moist, warm environment (chemical processes exponential
with temperature) Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-25
767 Exterior Composite Parts

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-26

Honeycomb Usage

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-27

 Summary—Advantages and Disadvantages
of Composite Materials

Advantages Disadvantages

• Weight reduction • Some higher recurring costs

(approximately 20-50%)
• Higher nonrecurring costs
• Corrosion resistance
• Higher material costs
• Fatigue resistance
• Nonvisible impact damage
• Tailorable mechanical
• Repairs are different than
properties
those to metal structure
• Sales
S l through
th h offset
ff t
• Isolation needed to prevent
• Lower assembly costs adjacent aluminum part
((fewer fasteners,, etc.)) galvanic corrosion

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-28

 Material and Process Specifications

Material Process
specifications specifications

• Supplier qualification • Storage and handling

• Fiber requirements • Cure cycle
• Prepreg
P requirements
i t • Layup
L and
d bagging
b i
– Fiber volume procedures
– Resin chemistry • In-process quality control
– Mechanical properties • Postprocess quality control
– Forms (tape, fabric) • Acceptable anomalies
– Cure cycle
• Splicing
– Quality controls
– Manufacturing characteristics
• Incoming and receiving tests

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-29

 Building Block Approach
Environment
Coupons
Elements
Joints
RT/Ambient
(Th
(Thousands)
d ) Small Panels Large Panels
(Hundreds) Subcomponents Components
(Dozens) Full
Airplane
Structure
Coupons and Elements
Large Panels and Test Boxes
• Mechanical properties
• Interlaminar properties • Validate design concepts
• Stress
St concentrations
t ti • Verify analysis methods
• Durability • Provide substantiating data for
• Bolted Joints material design values
• Impact damage characterization • Demonstrate compliance with criteria
• Environmental
E i t l ffactors
t • Demonstrate ability of finite element
models to predict strain values
Materials Analysis
The effects of temperature and moisture Thermal and moisture strains calculated
are accounted
t d for
f in
i d
design
i values
l and
d using finite element model for each
strength properties. critical condition.

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-30

 FAA/JAA Requirements for
Material Allowables

• FAR 25.613, “Material

Material Strength Properties
– Statistical basis

– Environmental effects accounted for

– MIL-H-17B

• FAR 25.615,, “Design

g Properties”
p
– “A” basis for single load path

– “B” basis for redundant structure

• FAA AC 20-107A

• JAR 25.613,, 25.615,, and 25.603 similar to

FAA regulations

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-31

 FAA/JAA Regulations That Govern
Structural Materials

• FAR 25.603,, “Materials”

– Suitability and durability established by tests
– Conform to specifications that ensure strength
– Takes into account environmental conditions
• FAR 25.605, “Fabrication Methods”
– Fabrication methods must produce consistently
sound structure (repeatability)
– New methods must be substantiated by tests
• FAR 25.609, “Protection of Structure”
– Protected against deterioration or loss of strength
• JAR 25.603,
25 603 25.605,
25 605 and 25.609
25 609 similar to FAA
regulations
Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-32
 FAA/JAA Advisories That Govern
Composite Materials

• FAA AC 20-107A,, “Composite

p Aircraft Structure”

– Presents an acceptable—but not the only—means for

certifying advanced composite structure

• FAA AC 21-26, “Quality Control for the

Manufacture of Composite Structure”

– Presents an acceptable—but not the only—means for

complying with the quality control requirement of
FAR 21

• JAA ACJ 25.603, “Composite Aircraft Structure”

• Similar to FAA AC 20-107A

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-33

 Strength Reduction of
Advanced Composite Materials

Pristine Materials

Reduction
R d i
of the Processing anomalies
allowable • Surface irregularities
• Splicing
stress
• Waviness
• Inclusions
• Voids
Stress
Damage
• Visible damage
• Nonvisible damage
Allowable • Repair (holes, etc.)
design D i
Design
region • Environment

Allowable strain
Strain
S a reduction

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-34

 777 Composite Primary Structure
Certification

Sequence Load Description Sequence Load Description

1 Limit p
proof Load 4 Strain surveyy
a. Up bending 5 Fatigue spectrum
b. Up bending/unsymmetric 6 Strain survey
c. Down bending 7 Ultimate load strain survey
d. Down bending/ g a. Stall buffet
Unsymmetric b. Up bending
e. Stall buffet (unsymmetric) c. Down bending
2 Strain survey 8 Destruction test -
3 Fatigue spectrum d
down b
bending
di

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-35

 787 Airplane
Approximately 50% of the airframe is made from composites; a
very bold move in the commercial aircraft industry

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-36

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-37
Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-38
Boeing 787 Dreamliner Logistics

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-39

 Summary

• Composite parts used for aircraft applications are defined by

– Material, process, and manufacturing specifications.
– Material allowable (engineering definition).
• All of these have a basis in regulatory requirements.
• Most efficient use of advanced composites in aircraft
structure is in applications with
– Highly loaded parts with thick gages.
– High fatigue loads (fuselage and wing structure, etc).
– Areas susceptible to corrosion (fuselage, etc).
– Critical weight reduction (empennage
(empennage, wings
wings, fuselage
fuselage, etc)
etc).
• Use must be justified by weighing benefits against costs.

Design and Analysis of Aircraft Structures 13-40