Aerospace Structures: Loads

Vorlesung vom Montag 20. April 2009

Florian Hürlimann

CENTRE OF STRUCTURE TECHNOLOGIES

Florian Hürlimann
www.structures.ethz.ch 20.04.2009, page 1
Contents

„ Introduction

„ Load classification and definitions

„ Lift and drag

„ Requirements & regulations

„ Loads in aircraft pre-design

„ Video: Assembly A380 (7min)

CENTRE OF STRUCTURE TECHNOLOGIES

Florian Hürlimann
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Domains

„ Multi-disciplinary character of aircraft design

„ In order to design a structure we need to understand the other domains

CENTRE OF STRUCTURE TECHNOLOGIES

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Contents

„ Introduction

„ Load classification and definitions

„ Lift and drag

„ Requirements & regulations

„ Loads in aircraft pre-design

„ Video: Assembly A380 (7min)

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Definitions and classification
„ Two distinct classes of loads:

Ground loads: Air loads:

Loads encountered by the aircraft during movement or Loads imposed on the structure during flight.
transportation on the ground
„ Taxiing „ Manoeuvres

„ Landing loads „ Gust

„ Towing „ Bird strike

„ Maintenance loads

„ Handling loads

„ Pressure fueling

„ …

„ Subdividing the two classes further into:

Suface forces Body forces

Act upon the surface of the structure, e.g. aerodynamic Act over the volume of the sturcture and are produced by
and hydrostatic pressure gravitational and inertial effects

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Operation specific loads

„ Carrier born aircraft

(catapult take-off, arrested landing)

„ Pressurized cabins

„ Amphibious aircraft

„ High speed at low altitude (e.g. Tornado) Dassault Rafale, Carrier Landing (Source: Marine Nationale)

extremely turbulent air

Tornado designed to fly with high speed at low altitude

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Factors of safety

„ Limit load:
Maximum load that the aircraft is expected to experience in normal operation

„ Ultimate load:
Product of the limit load and the ultimate factor (usually 1.5)

„ The aircraft’s structure must withstand the proof load without detrimental
distortion and should not fail until the ultimate load has been achieved.

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Fatigue (1)

„ Fatigue:
Progressive deterioration of strength of material or structural component
during service

„ Different kinds of fatigue:

– Cyclic fatigue (repeated fluctuating loads)
– Corrosion fatigue (fatigue accelerated by surface corrosion)
– Fretting fatigue (small-scale rubbing movements and abrasion of adjacent parts)
– Thermal fatigue (stress fluctuation induced by thermal expansions/contractions)
– Sonic fatigue (or acoustic fatigue, hight frequency stress fluctuations, due to
vibrations excited by jet or propeller noise)

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Fatigue (2): Safe life and fail-safe structures

„ Safe life: The structure is designed to have a minimum life during which it is known that no
catastrophic damage will occur
At the end of this life the structure must be replaced even if no detectable signs of fatigue
Æ expensive !

„ Fail-safe: Failure of a member in a redundant structure does not necessarily lead to the
collapse of the complete structure (also called damage tolerant structure)
Æ routine inspections required !

„ Generally more economical to design some parts of the structure to be fail-safe since such
components can be lighter

„ Safe life examples: landing gear, major wing joints, wing-fuselage joints, hinges on all
moving tailplanes

„ Fail-safe examples: wing skins, fuselage skins (stringers and frames prevent skin cracks
spreading disastrously for a sufficient period of time)

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 Fatigue (3): Safe life and fail-safe structures

„ Fail-safe: Airbus A400M engine pylon

Europrop TP-400-D6 turboprop engine (> 11‘000 shp, 1‘830 Kg) Engine pylon structure (Titanium)
Source: Airbus Military Source: Airbus Military

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Contents

„ Introduction

„ Load classification and definitions

„ Lift and drag

„ Requirements & regulations

„ Loads in aircraft pre-design

„ Video: Assembly A380 (7min)

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Pressure load around an airfoil

a) b)

„ Pressure distribution has vertical (lift) and horizontal (drag) resultants acting
at the centre of pressure (CP)
„ The position of the CP changes as the pressure distribution varies with speed or wing
incidence
„ We replace the lift and drag forces acting at the CP by lift and drag forces acting
at the aerodynamic centre (AC) plus a constant moment M0
„ Wings, tailplane and fuselage are each subject to direct bending, shear and torsional loads

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Aerodynamic lift and drag

1
„ Dynamic pressure pdyn = ρ v2
2

1
„ Aerodynamic drag: W= ρ v 2 F cW
2
1
„ Aerodynamic lift: A = ρ v 2 F cA
2

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Drag coefficients
Drag Coefficients for bluff bodies Drag coeffs for streamlined bodies Drag coeffs for transport systems

Drag Coefficients for bluff bodies Drag coeffs for streamlined bodies Drag coeffs for transport systems

Source: http://www.aerodyn.org/

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Lift and drag coefficient

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Lift / drag ratios

Summary of Lift-to-Drag Ratios L/D of Subsonic Jet Aircraft L/D of Some Birds

Source: http://www.aerodyn.org/

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High lift systems

„ Flaps increase lift coefficient

„ Slats increase angle of attack
for stall

Source: Jürg Wildi, Grundlagen der Flugtechnik

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NACA Four-Digit Series

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NACA Four-Digit Series

m
yc = 2
( 2 px − x 2
) , for x = 0 to x = p Each profile has the following parameters
p
m „ c = chord length
yc = [(1 − 2 p ) + 2 px − x 2 )] , for x = p to x = c
(1 − p ) 2
„ t = airfoil thickness

t „ m = profile camber
yt = (0.2969 x 0.5 − 0.1260 x − 0.3516 x 2 + ...
0.2 „ p = position of maximum camber
... + 0.2843x 3 − 0.1015 x 4 )
„ α = angle of attack

xU = x − yt sin θ
yU = yc + yt cos θ
⎛ dy ⎞
xL = x + yt sin θ , where θ = arctan⎜ c ⎟
⎝ dx ⎠
y L = yc − yt cos θ

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Different stall behaviour

a) Malicious stall behaviour b) Good natured stall

„ Behaviour of stall can be seen in ca(α) curves

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Drag (1): Drag due to lift and parasite drag

„ Total drag of any body producing lift (e.g. aircraft, wing) can be devided in two parts
of drag.

Total drag = drag due to lift + parasite drag

≈ Gesamtwiderstand = Induzierter Widerstand + Restwiderstand

„ Difference between german and english literature!

„ Drag due to lift: induced drag + lift-dependent part of “rest drag”

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Drag (2): Parasite drag

„ Profile drag

„ Friction drag

„ Trimming drag

„ Form drag

„ Interference drag

„ Tail drag

„ Wave drag

„ Cooling drag

Source: Jürg Wildi, Grundlagen der Flugtechnik

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Drag (3): Parasite drag

„ Example: Honda Business Jet

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Drag (3): Parasite drag

„ Example: Boeing 787 Dreamliner

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Drag (3): Total drag

cW = cW0 + cWi with cW0 = const

and cWi = f (c A )

cW = cW0 + k c A
2

ρ ρ
W= V F ⋅ cW0 + V 2 F ⋅ k cA
2 2

2 2
2mg
For stationary flight ( A = mg ) yields c A =
ρ V 2F
ρ (mg ) 2 k
W = V F ⋅ cW0 +
2

2 ρ 2 F
V
2

2 1
The total drag contains a part proportial to V and one to 2 !
V

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Gust loads

VB
„ Model assumes gust step function with upward velocity VB tan Δα =
V
VB
„ Since Δα very small: Δα =
V
Angle of attack is increased by Δα, which leads to higher lift: ρ v2 dc A
„ ΔA = F⋅ Δα
2 dα
A mg + ΔA
„ The load factor caused by gust yields: n= =
mg mg
dc
ρ VF A VB
n = 1+ dα
2mg

CENTRE OF STRUCTURE TECHNOLOGIES

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Contents

„ Introduction

„ Load classification and definitions

„ Lift and drag

„ Requirements & regulations

„ Loads in aircraft pre-design

„ Video: Assembly A380 (7min)

CENTRE OF STRUCTURE TECHNOLOGIES

Florian Hürlimann
www.structures.ethz.ch 20.04.2009, page 27
Requirements & Regulations (1)

„ The situations under which integrity for the structure needs to be proved are described
in regulations

„ JAR1, Joint Aviation Requirements (Europe)

„ FAR2, Federal Aviation Regulations (USA)

„ Load cases have to be derived from these situations by the aircraft manufacturer

„ Possible combinations of load cases need to be considered by superposing the partial loads
Æ Large number of load cases to be checked in order to meet airworthiness requirements

„ Limiting load cases for the primary structure are often corners of envelopes or load cases
explicitely described in JAR/FAR

1 http://www.jaa.nl, The Joint Aviation Authorities

2 http://www.faa.gov, The Federal Aviation Administration

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Requirements & Regulations (2)

„ Different chapters for different aircraft types

Regulations2.1JAA
The sections 1 of the JARs related to certification are listed below.
JAR-21 Certification Procedures for Aircraft and Related Products and Parts
JAR-22 Sailplanes and Powered Sailplanes
JAR-23 Normal, Utility, Aerobatic, and Commuter Category Aeroplanes
JAR-25 Large Aeroplanes
JAR-26 Additional Airworthiness Requirements for Operations
JAR-27 Small Rotorcraft
JAR-29 Large Rotorcraft
JAR-34 Aircraft Engine Emissions
JAR-36 Aircraft Noise
JAR-39 Airworthiness Directives
JAR-APU Auxiliary Power Units
JAR-AWO All Weather Operations
JAR-E Engines
JAR-MMEL/MEL Master Minimum Equipment List / Minimum Equipment List
JAR-P Propellers
JAR-TSO Joint Technical Standard Orders
JAR-VLA Very Light Aeroplanes
JAR-VLR Very Light Rotorcraft

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Flight envelope (V-n diagram)

1
A= ρ v 2 F cA
2
A
n=
mg
ρ v2 F cA
n=
2mg

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Gust loads: V-n diagram

„ Airworthiness requirements
usually specify that gust loads
shall be calculated at certain
combinations of gust and flight
speed.

„ Gust load factor n is proportional

to aircraft speed for a given gust
velocity

„ In reality no sharp-edged gust

exists
Æ Detorioration factors kg used
dc A
ρ VF VB
n = 1+ kg dα
2mg

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Lasten

CENTRE OF STRUCTURE TECHNOLOGIES

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