Aircraft Structures

Reference: Aircraft Structures for Engineering Students.book.4th Edition

by T.H.G. Megson
AIRPLANE STRUCTURES.TECHNICAL MANUAL |
No. 1-410
Google Class Code: x7v626v
 Structural components of
aircraft
Aircraft are generally built up from the basic components of:
• wings
• fuselages
• tail units
• control surfaces
Are there any variations in particular aircraft?
yes, for example, a delta wing aircraft would not necessarily possess a
horizontal tail although this is present in a canard configuration such as
that of the Eurofighter (Typhoon)
 Loads on structural components
The structure of an aircraft is required to support two distinct
classes of load:
•ground loads, includes all loads encountered by the aircraft
during movement or transportation on the ground such as taxiing
and landing loads, towing and hoisting loads
•air loads, comprises loads imposed on the structure during flight
by manoeuvre and gusts.
•In addition, aircraft designed for a particular role encounter loads
peculiar to their sphere of operation such as:
•Carrier born aircraft, for instance, are subjected to
catapult take-off and arrested landing loads.
•most large civil and practically all military aircraft
have pressurized cabins for high altitude flying.
•Amphibious aircraft must be capable of landing on
water.
•aircraft designed to fly at high speed at low altitude,
e.g. the Tornado, require a structure of above average
strength to withstand the effects of flight in extremely
turbulent air.
The two classes of loads may be further divided into:
• surface forces which act upon the surface of the structure, e.g.
aerodynamic and hydrostatic pressure.
• body forces which act over the volume of the structure and are
produced by gravitational and inertial effects.

• all air loads are the resultants of the pressure distribution over the
surfaces of the skin produced by steady flight, manoeuvre or gust
conditions. Generally, these resultants cause direct loads, bending,
shear and torsion in all parts of the structure in
• addition to local, normal pressure loads imposed on the skin.
• The fuselage contains crew and payload, the latter being passengers,
cargo, weapons plus fuel, depending on the type of aircraft and its
function
• The wings provide the lift
• tailplane is the main contributor to directional control.
• In addition, ailerons, elevators and the rudder enable the pilot to
manoeuvre the aircraft and maintain its stability in flight
• wing flaps provide the necessary increase of lift for take-off and
landing.
• Figure 12.1 shows typical aerodynamic force resultants experienced by
an aircraft in steady flight.
 • The force on an aerodynamic surface (wing, vertical or horizontal tail)
results from a differential pressure distribution caused by incidence,
camber or a combination of both.
Such a pressure distribution, shown in Fig. 12.2(a), has vertical (lift) and
horizontal (drag) resultants acting at a center of pressure (CP). (In practice,
lift and drag are measured perpendicular and parallel to the flight path,
respectively.) Clearly the position of the CP changes as the pressure
distribution varies with speed or wing incidence.
the chordwise pressure distribution fixes the position of the resultant
aerodynamic load in the wing cross-section, the spanwise distribution
locates its position in relation, say, to the wing root. A typical
distribution for a wing/fuselage combination is shown in Fig. 12.3.
Similar distributions occur on horizontal and vertical tail surfaces.
Note :
•manoeuvre and gusts do not introduce different loads but
result only in changes of magnitude and position of the type
of existing loads
•fuselages may be pressurized and thereby support hoop
stresses,
•wings may carry weapons and/or extra fuel tanks with
resulting additional aerodynamic and body forces
contributing to the existing bending, shear and torsion,
• while the thrust and weight of engines may affect either
fuselage or wings depending on their relative positions.
• Ground loads encountered in landing and taxiing subject the aircraft to
concentrated shock loads through the undercarriage system.
The majority of aircraft have their main undercarriage located in the wings, with
a nosewheel or tailwheel in the vertical plane of symmetry.
Where is the undercarriage should be located ?
The position of the main undercarriage should be such as to produce minimum
loads on the wing structure compatible with the stability of the aircraft during
ground manoeuvre. This may be achieved by locating the undercarriage just
forward of the flexural axis of the wing and as close to the wing root as
possible.
In this case the shock landing load produces a given shear, minimum
bending plus torsion, with the latter being reduced as far as practicable
by offsetting the torque caused by the vertical load in the undercarriage
leg by a torque in an opposite sense due to braking.
Other loads include engine thrust on the wings or fuselage which acts in
the plane of symmetry but may, in the case of engine failure, cause
severe fuselage bending moments, as shown in Fig. 12.4
 Function of structural components
What is the basic functions of an aircraft’s structure ?
• transmit and resist the applied loads
• provide an aerodynamic shape and protect passengers, payload,
systems, etc. from the environmental conditions encountered in flight
•These requirements, in most aircraft, result in thin shell structures
where the outer surface or skin of the shell is usually supported by
longitudinal stiffening members and transverse frames to enable it to
resist bending, compressive and torsional loads without buckling
Such structures are known as semi-monocoque, while thin shells which
rely entirely on their skins for their capacity to resist loads are referred
to as monocoque.
• First, we shall consider wing sections which, while performing the
same function, can differ widely in their structural complexity, as can
be seen by comparing Figs 12.5 and 12.6.

Figure 12.5 Figure 12.6

In Fig. 12.5, the wing of the small, light passenger aircraft, the De
Havilland Canada Twin Otter, comprises a relatively simple
arrangement of two spars, ribs, stringers and skin.
The wing of the Harrier in Fig. 12.6 consists of numerous spars,
ribs and skin.
However, no matter how complex
the internal structural arrangement
the different components perform
the same kind of function.
Function of Ribs
• The shape of the cross-section is governed by aerodynamic considerations
and clearly must be maintained for all combinations of load; this is one of
the functions of the ribs.
• They also act with the skin in resisting the distributed aerodynamic
pressure loads; they distribute concentrated loads (e.g. undercarriage and
additional wing store loads) into the structure and redistribute stress
around discontinuities, such as undercarriage wells, inspection panels and
fuel tanks, in the wing surface.
• Ribs increase the column buckling stress of the longitudinal stiffeners by
providing end restraint and establishing their column length; in a similar
manner they increase the plate buckling stress of the skin panels
• The dimensions of ribs are governed by their spanwise position in the wing
and by the loads they are required to support.
Undercarriage well
Inspection Panel
 Inner fuel tank

Fuel Tank
In the outer portions of the wing, where the cross-section may
be relatively small if the wing is tapered and the loads are light,
ribs act primarily as formers for the airfoil shape. A light
structure is sufficient for this purpose whereas at sections
closer to the wing root, where the ribs are required to absorb
and transmit large concentrated applied loads, such as those
from the undercarriage, engine thrust and fuselage attachment
point reactions, a much more rugged construction is necessary.
Between these two extremes are ribs which support hinge
reactions from ailerons, flaps and other control surfaces, plus
the many internal loads from fuel, armament and systems
installations.
 Function of Skin
• The primary function of the wing skin is to form an impermeable surface for
supporting the aerodynamic pressure distribution from which the lifting
capability of the wing is derived. These aerodynamic forces are transmitted in
turn to the ribs and stringers by the skin through plate and membrane action.
• Resistance to shear and torsional loads is supplied by shear stresses
developed in the skin and spar webs
• axial and bending loads are reacted by the combined action of skin and
stringers.
Note: Although the thin skin is
What's the efficient for resisting shear and tensile
solution loads, it buckles under comparatively
low compressive loads.
•Rather than increase the skin thickness and suffer a
consequent weight penalty, stringers are attached to
the skin and ribs, thereby dividing the skin into small
panels and increasing the buckling and failing stresses.
Explain the combined action of stringers and skin in
resisting axial and bending loads
The stabilizing action of the stringers on the skin is, in
fact, reciprocated to some extent although the effect
normal to the surface of the skin is minimal. Stringers
rely chiefly on rib attachments for preventing column
action in this direction.
Function of Spar Web

•developing shear stresses to resist shear and torsional

loads ; they perform a secondary but significant
function in stabilizing, with the skin, the spar flanges
or caps which are therefore capable of supporting large
compressive loads from axial and bending effects
•spar webs exert a stabilizing influence on the skin in a
similar manner to the stringers.
• Fuselages,
• while of different shape to the aerodynamic surfaces, comprise members
which perform similar functions to their counterparts in the wings and
tailplane. However, there are differences in the generation of the various
types of load. Aerodynamic forces on the fuselage skin are relatively low;
on the other hand, the fuselage supports large concentrated loads such as
wing reactions, tailplane reactions, undercarriage reactions and it carries
payloads of varying size and weight, which may cause large inertia forces.
• aircraft designed for high altitude flight must withstand internal pressure.
• The shape of the fuselage cross-section is determined by operational
requirements. For example, the most efficient sectional shape for a
pressurized fuselage is circular or a combination of circular elements.
• Irrespective of shape, the basic fuselage structure is essentially a single
cell thin-walled tube comprising skin, transverse frames and stringers;
transverse frames which extend completely across the fuselage are
known as bulkheads.
 What are the types of fuselage and what are the
characteristics?
There are three different types of fuselage are shown in
Figs 12.5–12.7.
 In Fig. 12.5
the fuselage is
unpressurized so that, in
the passenger-carrying
area, a more rectangular
shape is employed to
maximize space.

Figure 12.5
 The Harrier fuselage in
Fig. 12.6 contains the
engine, fuel tanks, etc. so
that its cross-sectional
shape is, to some extent,
predetermined

Figure 12.6
 in Fig. 12.7 the
passenger-carryin
g fuselage of the
British Aerospace
146
is pressurized and
therefore circular
in cross-section.

Figure 12.7