Exercises Lecture 5

Structural concepts

Ir. Jos Sinke

Tim van Leeuwen
Delft University of Technology

Smudge 9000 - CC - BY
 AE1110x - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Exercise 1
Put the materials and structural concepts mentioned below to the time period they are associated
with. Note that this is not the same as the year of introduction. As an example, aluminium has
been inserted in the time period around 1950, even though it was introduced earlier. You are
allowed to put multiple items in one box.
Carbon fibre - Pressure cabin - Linen - Specialized aluminium alloys - Cables - Composites - Wooden
spars

Figure 1: Different eras of material and structure use.

Exercise 2
Between 1903 and 1940, a significant change has taken place on the skin of aircraft wings and
fuselages. What change is this?
A) The wing and fuselage skin have become increasingly thinner
B) The wing and fuselage skin went from non-loaded to load-carrying
C) The fuselage skin has been optimised to incorporate windows
D) The wing and fuselage skin were eventually made of different materials

Exercise 3
You are given the following statements on biplanes:
1) Placing two identical wings on top of each other increases lift by about 50%, compared to
having just one wing.
2) Biplanes usually have a higher glide ratio than monoplanes.

Figure 2: A typical biplane. Image courtesy of Geoff Collins, CC - BY - NC - ND

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Only statement 1 is true
B) Only statement 2 is true
C) Both statements are true
D) Both statements are false

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 AE1110x - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Exercise 4
What was the most important feature of the Fokker F VII, shown below?

Figure 3: The Fokker VII. Image courtesy of Kitchener.lord, CC - BY - NC - ND

A) It has a thicker wing than airplanes up to that time.

B) Its three engines gave it a larger range.
C) It was capable of taking off and landing at more sites than other aircraft.
D) It was one of the first aircraft with a load-carrying skin.

Exercise 5
You are given the following two statements:
1) A webplate is the vertical segment of a beam element.
2) In a safe-life design we need to take into account large safety factors.
Which of the following is true:
A) Only statement 1 is correct
B) Only statement 2 is correct
C) Both statements are correct
D) Neither statement is correct

Exercise 6
Below you see a picture of the Millau bridge, one of the highest bridges on the world. What will
have been the design philosophy behind the vertical columns of this bridge?

Figure 4: The Fokker VII. Image courtesy of Jeremy Atkinson, CC - BY

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 AE1110x - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Exercise 7
You are given the following statements:
1) In the truss shown below, the bottom side is in tension.
2) The directions of the web forces shown are correct.

Figure 5: A typical truss, with buckling shown.

Which of the following is correct:

A) Statement 1 is true
B) Statement 2 is true
C) Both statements are true
D) Neither statement is true

Exercise 8
The truss shown below is loaded by a force F.

Figure 6: A typical truss, loaded by a force F.

Inside the pink square and the yellow circle, there will be horizontal forces acting on the truss and
the wall. In which directions will they point?
A) Both forces point to the left
B) Both forces point to the right
C) Force 1 points to the left, force 2 points to the right
D) Force 1 points to the right, force 2 points to the left

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Exercise 9
What is the definition of a shell structure, as given in the lecture?
"A shell structure is a __(1)__ , __(2)__ skin, with __(3)__ elements."
1) Broad, Thick, Thin or Optimised
2) Adequate, Load-bearing, Optimised or Strong
3) Reinforcing, Stiffening, Strengthening or Supporting

Exercise 10
What does the abbreviation PSE stand for, when we talk about aircraft structures?

Exercise 11
Some aircraft are capable of flying upside down. Suppose that an aircraft cruises upside down,
then what it its load factor?

Figure 7: An aircraft flying upside down. Image courtesy of Tatham Oddie, CC - BY - SA

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Exercise 12
An aircraft tries to make turn by banking, see the figure below. The angle φ (’phi’) is its bank
angle. The aircraft makes its turn in such a way that it maintains a constant altitude.

Figure 8: An aircraft banking during a turn. Image courtesy of J. Scavini, CC - BY - SA

Find an expression for the load factor n in this case. Express your answer in terms of (some of)
the variables L, W and φ.

Exercise 13
An aircraft component has an ultimate load of 5.28 kN and a limit load of 1.32 kN.
1) What is its safety factor?
2) Based on this safety factor, do you think it was designed using a fail-safe philosophy or a safe-life
philosophy?

Exercise 14
Finish the following statement.
Fatigue is caused by:
A) A constant force, greater than the breaking force.
B) A constant force, smaller than the breaking force.
C) A repeated force, greater than the breaking force.
D) A repeated force, smaller than the breaking force.

Exercise 15
Which two phases (before a critical crack) do we distinguish in the process of fatigue?

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 AE1110x - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Exercise 16
A modern jet flies at an altitude of 6,200 metres, during its climb to cruise altitude. For additional
passenger comfort, the cabin pressure is maintained at 80% of the sea level value.
1) Given that the fuselage radius is 3.2 metres and that the skin thickness is 2.4 mm, compute the
circumferential stress in the fuselage skin (in MPa or MegaPascal): (Assume ISA conditions)
2) Additionally, compute the longitudinal stress in the fuselage skin (in MPa or MegaPascal):

Exercise 17
A young engineer has come up with a ’brilliant idea’: an aircraft with a square fuselage for more
space. Since all aircraft have a circular fuselage cross section you suspect there must be a down-
side to this plan and you suspect it has to do with stress in the fuselage skin due to the cabin
pressure.
To convince the young engineer, you have to determine the ’circular’ stress in the fuselage due to
the cabin pressure as a function of R, pin , pout and t. To do so, make use of the figure below.

Figure 9: A square fuselage with the relevant parameters.

1) Give an equation for the ’circular’ skin stress σ, as a function of the variables in the picture
above.
2) What will your main argument of why a square fuselage is not a good idea be?
A) "A square fuselage is not aerodynamic".
B) "In a square fuselage the skin stress due to the cabin pressure is higher".
C) "A square fuselage is heavier."
D) "A square fuselage will experience major bending stresses, which a circular fuselage does not."

Exercise 18
A futuristic Aircraft manufacturer has come up with the idea to build a supersonic passenger jet,
which is supposed to perform cruise flight at 24 kilometres altitude. For passenger comfort, the
cabin pressure should remain at least 72 percent of the sea level value. To give the aircraft an
aerodynamic shape its fuselage is rather long and slender, meaning the fuselage diameter is ’just’
4.5 metres.
The engineers have asked you, now experts in the field of pressure cabins and fatigue, to determine
the required skin thickness to deal with the circular stress (which may not exceed 75MPa) in the
fuselage skin. To be on the safe side, they ask you to take into account a safety factor of 1.5.
What will be for this aircraft the skin thickness (in millimetres)?

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