Introduction - Aircraft Structural

Components

AE 228 Introduction to AE
Structures and Materials
Term 222
Instructor: Dr. Wael Abdelrahman
Aerospace Engineering Department
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

Intermission 1
The Airframe – Structural
Components of the
Aircraft

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 1
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Structural Components of Aircraft

Topics:
• Loads on Structural Components
• Functions of Structural Components
• Fabrication of Structural Components

Loads on Structural Components

These loads can be classified in different ways.

They can be classified as:
• Ground Loads (Landing gear loads, towing
loads, landing shock, arrest/catapult loads)
• Air Loads (lift, drag)

They can be further classified as:

• Surface Forces (lift, friction, pressure, heating,
…etc)
• Body Forces (inertia)
4

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 2
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Loads on Structural Components

Functions of Structural Components

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 3
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Functions of Structural Components

The basic functions of aircraft’s structure are:

• Resist the applied loads
• Provide the aerodynamic shape
• Protect passengers, payload, systems, .. etc from the
environmental conditions encountered in the flight

Aircraft Structural Components

1. Wing
2. Fuselage
3. Empennage (Vertical and Horizontal Tail)
4. Under Carriage (Landing Gear)
5. Engine Mounts Wing
Fuselage Vertical Tail

Horizontal Tail
Under Carriage 8

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 4
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Internal Aircraft Structure

Skin

Fuselage
For the conventional fuselage, the major
structural elements are:
stringer
➢ Transverse Frame
Frame
➢ Longitudinal Stringers

➢ Longerons (primary stringers)

➢ Skin

These elements are connected by

9
connections made of clips, rivets, …etc.

Internal Aircraft Structure

Wing
For the conventional wing,
the major structural elements
are:
➢ Ribs (defines the
aerodynamic shape
of the wing)

➢ Spars

➢ Stringers

➢ Skin

10

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 5
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Wing Spars and Wing Boxes

Wing Spar

Wing Box 11

Fabrication of Structural Components

■ Master Drawing
■ Substructures (Wing, Fuselage,
Tail, Landing Gear)
■ Subassemblies (e.g, Wing
center section, fuselage tail
cone,…etc)
■ Minor assemblies
(Spars, ribs, frames,
..etc):
■ Components angles,
webs, sheets, ..etc
connected by stiffeners.
12

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 6
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Fabrication of Structural Components

• Subassemblies of Aircraft Structure

13

Fabrication of Structural Components

• Rib minor assembly fabrication of parts

14

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 7
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Fabrication of Structural Components

1. Aluminum airframe construction.

2. Advanced construction methods
• Honeycomb structures
• Laminated composites

15

Airframe Materials

16

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 8
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Introduction to Aircraft Materials

Factors affecting the selection of the structural material:

• Low weight (most important)
Specific Strength = sall/r
• Strength
• Resistance to corrosion, fatigue, and the effect of
environmental conditions
• Resistance to crack propagation
• Ease of Fabrication
• Availability and consistency of Supply
• Cost
17

Most Commonly Used AE Materials

• Wood
• Steel
• Aluminum Alloys
• Titanium Alloys
• Fiber–Reinforced Composites (laminated,
sandwich,…etc)
• Plastics (Used in Windows and insulation)
• Glass (used in Windshields and windows)
18

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 9
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Wood

• Used in the first generation of aircrafts

Advantages
• Easy to manufacture
• Available experience for manufacturing
wood (furniture industry)

19

Wood

Disadvantage
• Affected by environmental conditions like humidity
• Properties change with direction (anisotropic) -
Strong in fibers’ direction, weak normal to it.
• Can not withstand high wing loading

20

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 10
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Steel
• Steel is used in components which require high stiffness,
high resistance to wear, high tensile strength such as
undercarriage, pivot brackets, and fasteners
Advantages
• High tensile strength
• High modulus of elasticity
Disadvantage
• High specific weight (Weight /Strength), (Or alternatively:
low specific strength)
21

Aluminum
◼ Duralumin (an aluminum alloy) was discovered in 1909.
Three groups of aluminum alloys dominated the field of
aircraft materials to these days. They are classified by their
composition.
◼ Advantages
◼ High strength with low weight compared to steel
Disadvantage
◼ As one particular property of aluminum alloys is
improved, other desirable properties are sacrificed
(increasing strength may decrease the resistance to
crack propagation)
22

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 11
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Titanium

Advantages
• High strength
• Good resistance to corrosion SR-71 Black Bird

• Suitable for high temperature applications

Disadvantages
• High cost

23

24

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 12
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Composites

• Composite materials are made up of two or more separate

components that, when combined, result in properties that
differ from the original materials.
• They are an anisotropic materials, which means different
properties in different directions.
• Composites may be tailored to increase certain properties,
such as fatigue resistance, which is more important than
strength for helicopter rotor blades for example.
25

Why Composites
• Composites have lower density and greater strength and stiffness
than aluminum. Therefore, a smaller lighter structure can carry
the same load.
• Studies conducted by Boeing indicate that a 38 % composite
structural weight can result in a 40 % reduction in empty weight,
39 % reduction in wing area and a 33 % fuel saving for the same
mission profile.

26

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 13
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Disadvantages

1. Costly and complicated

manufacturing
2. Difficult and specialized
field repair

27

Increase in Use of Composites

787

28

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 14
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Where are composites used?

29

Composites in Helicopters

Rotor blade section made of

sandwich composite material

30

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 15
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Honeycomb “Materials”

©2003 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.

A hexagonal cell honeycomb core, (b) can be joined to two face sheets by
means of adhesive sheets, (c) producing an exceptionally lightweight yet
stiff, strong honeycomb sandwich structure.
31

Honeycomb/Sandwich in Aircraft

32

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 16
Introduction - Aircraft Structural
Components

Extreme Materials

• Microlattice developed in 2015

by a joint Boeing-GM
company.
• Uses a truss core structure.
• 99.9% air by volume.
Extremely light. One of lowest
solid densities on earth.
• Direct spacecraft structures
application.
33

Where can you get more details?

• We will study AE Materials in detail using

the second textbook (by Mouritz), starting
PPT Lec 5

34

AE 228- introduction to AE Struc & Mat. -

Lec 3 17