Challenges associated with structural analysis
- Safe (redundancies and no failure)
- Not over-designed (weight = cost)
- No room for error (get it right the first time)
- Failure can be fatal
- Re-design is extremely costly
Typical task
- Givens:
- Required:
- Stiffness
- Materials (based on flight envelope)
- Constraints
- Light weight!
- Interior spaces
- Manufacturing
- Cost
- Maintenance
Flight loads
- Aerodynamic
- Lift
- Drag
- Pitching moments
- Torque
- Thrust
- Inertia
- Landing
- Gusts
- Dynamic maneuvers
- Vibrations
Weight drives geometry
- Since the dawn of flight, weight has been a critical driving force
- Requirements for lightweight structure drives structural efficiency (and
selected design elements)
- Well managed load paths are a key to efficient design
- Local loads are transferred to principal structural components
- Wing skins \(\Longrightarrow\) stringers \(\Longrightarrow\)
ribs \(\Longrightarrow\) spars \(\Longrightarrow\) fuselage