DETAILED STRUCTURAL LAYOUTS

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FUNCTION OF THE STRUCTURE:
The primary functions of an aircraft’s structure can be basically broken down
into the following:

To

transmit and resist applied loads. 

To provide and maintain aerodynamic shape. 


To protect its crew, passenger, payload, systems, etc. 
For the vast majority of aircraft, this leads to use of a semi-monocoque design
(i.e. a thin, stressed outer shell with additional stiffening members) for the wing,
fuselage & empennage. These notes will discuss the structural layout
possibilities for each of these main areas, i.e. wing, fuselage & empennage.

WING STRUCTURAL LAYOUT:

Specific Roles of Wing (Main wing) Structure:

The specified structural roles of the wing (or main plane) are:


 To transmit:

 wing lift to the root via the main span wise beam 

 Inertia loads from the power plants, undercarriage, etc., to the main beam. 

 Aerodynamic loads generated on the aerofoil, control surfaces & flaps to
the main beam. 
 To react against: 

 Landing loads at attachment points 

 Loads from pylons/stores 

 Wing drag and thrust loads 

 To provide: 

 Fuel tank age space 

 Torsional rigidity to satisfy stiffness and aero-elastic requirements. 

 To fulfill these specific roles, a wing layout will conventionally

compromise: 

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
 Span wise members (known as spars or booms) 
 Chord wise members(ribs)
 A covering skin
 Stringers 


Basic Functions of Wing Structural Members

The structural functions of each of these types of members may be
considered independently as:
SPARS

 Form the main span wise beam

 Transmit bending and torsional loads
 Produce a closed-cell structure to provide resistance to torsion, shear and
tension loads.

In particular:
 Webs – resist shear and torsional loads and help to stabilize the skin. 

 Flanges - resist the compressive loads caused by wing bending. 

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SKIN

 To form impermeable aerodynamics surface

 Transmit aerodynamic forces to ribs & stringers
 Resist shear torsion loads (with spar webs).
 React axial bending loads (with stringers).

STRINGERS

 Increase skin panel buckling strength by dividing into smaller length

sections.
 React axial bending loads

RIBS

 Maintain the aerodynamic shape

 Act along with the skin to resist the distributed aerodynamic pressure
loads.
 Distribute concentrated loads into the structure & redistribute stress
around any discontinuities
 Increase the column buckling strength of the stringers through end
restraint
 Increase the skin panel buckling strength.

SPARS
These usually comprise thin aluminium alloy webs and flanges, sometimes with
separate vertical stiffeners riveted on to the webs.
Types of spars:
In the case of a two or three spar box beam layout, the front spar should be
located as far forward as possible to maximize the wing box size, though this is
subject to there being:
 Adequate wing depth for reacting vertical shear loads.
 Adequate nose space for LE devices, de-icing equipment, etc.

This generally results in the front spar being located at 12% to 18% of the chord
length. For a single spar D-nose layout, the spar will usually located at the
maximum thickness position of the aerofoil section (typically between 30% &

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40% along the chord length). For the standard box beam layout, the rear spar
will be located as for aft as possible, once again to maximize the wing box size,
but positioning will be limited by various space requirements for flaps, control
surfaces, spoilers etc. This usually results in a location somewhere between
about 55%and 70% of the chord length. If any intermediate spars are used, they
would tend to be spaced uniformly unless there are specific pick-up point
requirements.
RIBS
For a typical two spar layout, the ribs are usually formed in three parts from
sheet metal by the use of presses &dies. Flanges are incorporated around the
edges so that they can be riveted to the skin and the spar webs. Cut-out are
necessary around the edges to allow for the stringers to pass through.
Lightening holes are usually cut into the rib bodies to reduce the rib weight and
also to allow for the passage of control runs, fuel, electrics, etc.

Rib bulkheads do not include any lightening holes and are used at fuel tank
ends, wing crank locations and attachment support areas. The rib should be
ideally spaced to ensure adequate overall buckling support to spar flanges. In
reality, however, their positioning is also influenced by:
 Facilitating attachment points for control surfaces, flaps, slats, spoiler
hinges, power plants, stores, undercarriage attachment etc.
 Positioning of fuel tank ends, requiring closing ribs.
 A structural need to avoid local shear or compression buckling; there are
several different possibilities regarding the alignment of the ribs on swept-
wing aircraft is a hybrid design in which one or more inner ribs are aligned
with the main axis while the remainders are aligned perpendicularly to the
rear spar and usually the preferred option but presents several structural
problems in the root region also Gives good torsional stiffness
characteristics but results in heavy ribs and complex connections.

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SKIN
The skin tends to be riveted to the rib flanges and stringers, using
countersunk rivets to reduce drag. It is usually pre-formed at the leading edges,
where the curvature is large due to aerodynamic considerations.
FUSELAGE STRUCTURE
The fundamental purpose of the fuselage structure is to provide an
envelope to support the payload, crew, equipment, systems and (possibly) the
power-plant. Furthermore, it must react against the in-flight manoeuvre,
pressurisation and gust loads; also the landing gear and possibly any power-
plant loads. It must be also be able to transmit control and trimming loads from
the stability and control surfaces throughout the rest of the structure
Fuselage contributes very little to lift and produces more drag but it
is an important structural member/component. It is the connecting member to
all load producing components such as wing, horizontal tail, vertical tail,
landing gear etc. and thus redistributes the load. It also serves the purpose of
housing or accommodating practically all equipment, accessories and systems
in addition to carrying the payload. Because of large amount of equipment
inside the fuselage, it is necessary to provide sufficient number of cutouts in the
fuselage for access and inspection purposes. These cutouts and discontinuities
result in fuselage design being more complicated, less precise and often less
efficient in design.
As a common member to which other components are attached,
thereby transmitting the loads, fuselage can be considered as a long hollow
beam. The reactions produced by the wing, tail or landing gear may be
considered as concentrated loads at the respective attachment points. The
balancing reactions are provided by the inertia forces contributed by the weight
of the fuselage structure and the various components inside the fuselage. These
reaction forces are distributed all along the length of the fuselage, though need
not be uniformly. Unlike the wing, which is subjected to mainly unsymmetrical

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load, the fuselage is much simpler for structural analysis due to its symmetrical
cross-section and symmetrical loading. The main load in the case of fuselage is
the shear load because the load acting on the wing is transferred to the fuselage
skin in the form of shear only. The structural design of both wing and fuselage
begin with shear force and bending moment diagrams for the respective
members. The maximum bending stress produced in each of them is checked to
be less than the yield stress of the material chosen for the respective member.
Fuselage Layout Concepts
There are two main categories of layout concept in common use
 Mass boom and longeron layout

 Semi-monocoque layout

Mass Boom & Longeron layout

This is fundamentally very similar to the mass-boom wing-box concept
discussed in previous section. It is used when the overall structural loading is
relatively low or when there are extensive cut-outs in the shell. The concept
comprises four or more continuous heavy booms (longeron), reacting against
any direct stresses caused by applied vertical and lateral bending loads. Frames
or solid section
Semi-Monocoque layout
The semi-monocoque is the most often used construction for
modern, high-performance aircraft. Semi-monocoque literally means half a
single shell. Here, internal braces as well as the skin itself carry the stress. The
vertical structural members are referred to as bulkheads, frames, and formers.
The heavier vertical members are located at intervals to allow for concentrated
loads. These members are also found at points where fittings are used to attach
other units, such as the wings and stabilizers.
Primary bending loads are taken by the longerons, which usually
extend across several points of support. The longerons are supplemented by
other longitudinal members known as stringers. Stringers are more numerous

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and lightweight than longerons. The stringers are smaller and lighter than
longerons and serve as fill-ins. They have some rigidity but are chiefly used for
giving shape and for attachment of skin.
The strong, heavy longerons hold the bulkheads and formers. The
bulkheads and formers hold the stringers. All of these, joins together to form a
rigid fuselage framework. Stringers and longerons prevent tension and
compression stresses from bending the fuselage. The skin is attached to the
longerons, bulkheads, and other structural members and carries part of the load.
The fuselage skin thickness varies with the load carried and the stresses
sustained at particular location.