Airframe Structure-General

Concepts

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 Ventilation
● The system ensures the ventilation of the
avionics equipment in order to guarantee a high
reliability level
● It is controlled by the avionics equipment
ventilation controller (AEVC)
● System is fully automatic. It cools the electric
and electronic components in avionics
compartment and on flight deck, including
instrument panel and circuit breaker panels. It
uses two electric fans to force circulation of
cooling air. Regardless of configuration of
system, a part of avionics ventilation air is
sucked from flight deck through the different
flight deck panels
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 Ventilation
● It consists of following parts
– Fans
– Skin Air Inlet And Extract Valves
– Skin Exchange Inlet And Outlet Bypass Valves
– Air Conditioning Inlet Valve
– Skin Exchange Isolation Valve
– Avionics Equipment Ventilation Computer (AEVC)

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 CONSTRUCTION METHODS
● STRESSED SKIN FUSELAGE is the fuselage
in which skin (of aircraft) also carries the load
and thus the the underlying framework can be
made lighter without loss of overall strength.
This is called stressed skin construction
● Based on the type of the construction the
aircraft airframe is divided into following
– Truss structure
– Monocoque construction
– Semi-Monocoque Construction

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 Truss Structure
● It is constructed by
using welded steel
tube trusses. Simple
box structures may
be rounded by the
addition of supported
lightweight stringers,
allowing the fabric
covering to form a
more aerodynamic
shape

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 Monocoque construction
● A method of construction where the skin carries
all the loads without supporting structure is
called pure Monocoque construction
● Frame and bulkhead provide the shape of
fuselage to which skin of the metal is riveted
● Many modern light aircraft are constructed
using composite (glass fiber) materials. This is
extremely strong. Extra rigidity can be achieved
by using glass foam sandwich construction
● Example-Glasair

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 Monocoque construction

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 Semi-Monocoque construction
● In a stressed skin fuselage construction, about
half the loads are carried by the skin and half by
the supporting structure. This type of
construction is called semi Monocoque
● The supporting structure parts include frame
assemblies, bulkheads, formers, longerons and
Stringers
● It is most common airframe construction
method (as it had high strength/weight ratio)

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DOUBLERS AND REINFORCEMENT
● Where the skin requires extra strengthening, at
the junction of plates or around small apertures,
a second layer of skin is attached over the
original to reinforce it
● This extra plate is known as a doubler or a
doubler plate
● Where loads are concentrated within the
structure, it can be strengthened at these
places by either making the material thicker, or
by the addition of a number of layers of similar
material. The actual amount of reinforcement
being dictated by the amount of stress carried
in each area
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 STRUTS AND TIES
● Any structural item that is designed solely to
take a compressive load is called a strut
● Whereas an item that only takes a tensile load
is called a tie

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BEAMS AND FLOOR STRUCTURES
● BEAMS are used for the floor of the fuselage
airframe structure
● They are used laterally and longitudinally along
the fuselage to support the flight deck and
passenger cabin floors
● They provide strong point attachment for the
crew and passenger seat
● It is primary structure

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 METHODS OF SKINNING
● Skins for light aircraft usually made up of
Aluminium alloy
● Larger aircraft since 1050’s are made up of
heavier material but they excess weight
becomes a big penalty
● The latest methods are to machine or mill each
skin panel individually from a solid billet, to
provide a varying thickness all over the sheet.
In this way, the skin panel is exactly the right
thickness at each location, with no excess
material and hence no extra weight

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 METHODS OF SKINNING
● This method results in what is termed milled
skin or machined skin. Milled wing skins give
maximum strength and rigidity with minimum
weight
● Another method is to chemically etch the
unwanted material from the panel
● This ensures no stress raisers are introduced in
the material
● Example waffle plates

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 ANTI-CORROSIVE PROTECTION
● During manufacturing different methods are
applied to prevent corrosion
● These methods include heat treatment, plating
and cladding, Epoxy primers, special paint
finishes and sealants etc
● Corrosive attack may extend over an entire
metal surface. The weakening effect of
corrosive attack may be aggravated by stresses
in the metal and result in premature failure of
the component

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CONSTRUCTION METHODS – WING
● Most commercial aircraft are like cantilever
beam where spar is the main spanwise load
bearing member
● Depending upon the requirement wing can be
monospar, two-spar or multispar
● A320/A330 has two-spar wing construction
while B747 has three-spar construction
● Wing include spanwise stringers, front and rear
spars and a set of wing ribs running chordwise
across the wing between the spars

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CONSTRUCTION METHODS – WING

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 Fuel Storage
● Rigid Tanks
● Flexible Tanks
● Integral Tanks

Assignment no 01
● Explain all the types of fuel tanks, its
construction and usage on aircraft?
● Hand written assignment and last date of
submission is 04/03/19
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 EMPENNAGE
● The vertical and
horizontal stabilisers,
elevators and rudder
are constructed in a
manner similar to the
wings but on a
smaller scale
● The main structural
members are the
spars, with the
stringers, ribs and
stressed skin
completing the basic
design
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 Attachments
● Wing attachment
● Landing gear attachment
● Engine attachment
● Seat attachment (20g)

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 ENGINE ATTACHMENTS
● Engine mount primary function is to transmit the
thrust of the engine to the airframe
● Engine mounts attach the engine to the pylons.
They are one of the most stressed parts on an
aircraft
● Because of waste heat from the engine, mounts
must maintain their high strength even at
temperatures of up to 500 °C. They must also
possess high fracture toughness. Engine
mounts are produced for the life span of an
aircraft

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 ENGINE ATTACHMENTS

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 PYLON and NACELLES
● The engines are attached to the lower surface
of the wings by pylons.
● The pylons provide an interface between the
engine and the aircraft for electrics, fluids,
pneumatic and mechanical forces
● A nacelle is a housing, separate from the
fuselage, that holds engines, fuel, or equipment
on an aircraft

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 Boeing 747-8 Documentary

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