Academic literature on the topic 'Stiffened Composite Wing'

This paper presents a two-stage meta-heuristic approach to producing weight-optimised solutions needed prior to the detailed finite element analysis of composite wing. Composite wing covers are assumed to take the form of a group of stiffened sub-panels with varying skin and stiffener geometries according to the wing layout and loads. A population of limited solutions satisfying various design constraints was created using layout (skin and stiffener geometry), selected lay-ups, rule based stacking sequence and various assumed loads. The closed form analytical solutions of flat stiffened orthotropic plates are used for calculating buckling reserve factors and strength margins. For each sub-panel, a meta-heuristic rule was imposed to search for a suitable combination of skin and stiffener geometry. The criterion used was minimum weight satisfying laminate continuity accounting for manufacturability. Later, the optimised solutions for each sub-panel are converted into a format supported by the conventional finite element tool (NASTRAN). The use of meta-heuristic approach and their automation in Visual Basic for Applications resulted in fast convergence and potential time-saving compared to genetic algorithms.

AbstractThe program VICONOPT is used to find the optimum (least mass) dimensions of a range of stiffened wing panels which are subject to buckling and material strength constraints and are loaded in axial compression with a sinusoidal manufacturing imperfection. Design plots are presented to show the effects that various rib spacings and stiffener types have on optimum design mass. A simplified model of a complete wing box is used to illustrate the design of a full wing panel and plots of optimum values of design variables at various stations along the wing have been obtained. The results were chosen to illustrate the practicality of optimisation with reference to manufacture of a full wing panel and to show the effect of changing the sophistication of modelling and theory used for the range of panels considered. The important aspects of the choice of design variables and design concepts are highlighted and percentage savings in mass, compared with an optimum metal panel design, are given for the various (global) optima found along with some examples of (rejected) local optima.

In design of solar powered aircraft wing panel, vibration properties of wing panel should be considered, especially for the peak value of dynamic response. In this research, a viscoelastic damping layer is built for vibration isolation, wing panel finite element models of stiffened and no-stiffened structures base on fiber-reinforced laminates with damping layer in the middle are built. Natural frequency and displacement response are analyzed with different thickness of damping layer and structures. Result shows natural frequencies decrease as thickness increased, and that of laminates are lower than stiffened structure. The maximum displacement response value decreased when thickness increased and that of laminates is higher than structured with stiffer. The presented work is helpful for type selection and designing of solar powered aircraft wing panel.

The present study is mainly aimed at investigating the distribution of in-plane stresses of a rectangular plate under localized uniform in-plane tensile loading through finite element analysis. The configuration used in the analysis is analogous to the case of premature failure of stiffened panel due to the termination of a stiffener in aircraft wing structure. In this current work, three different types of materials namely, isotropic, plain woven and transversely isotropic materials are being considered. Aluminium is taken as isotropic; high strength carbon/epoxy is being assigned as plain woven composite and carbon nanotube based hybrid composite is used as transversely isotropic material, due to their wide range of applications in aircraft structures. The effect of different materials on overall axial, transverse and shear stress distributions at different layers of the stiffened composite panels are demonstrated using finite element analyses. Further, the variations of these stresses along axial and transverse directions are also compared for different materials. It can be concluded from the present study that the peak stress developed near the load application zone should be incorporated in the design criteria of such plates to avoid failure.

Solidification deformation will produce certain drawbacks, so that a composite material part may not meet the requirements of a stress-free assembly for a modern aircraft. This issue holds particularly in the composite material part of large aircrafts. To predict and control this deformation, a novel method is applied for shifting the relaxation times of the composite based on its temperature and degree of cure. The choice of a suitable material model to simulate induced distortions is important to achieve the right-first-time approach. This work investigates the ability of the multi-physics model within a linear viscoelastic material model to predict induced distortions into an aerospace composite wing. It is shown that a L-shaped stiffened wall was less dominated by all deformations, but two stiffened wall panels were more dominated. Yet, wing box panels with four stiffened wall panels reduced the contribution to deformation. Their effects were included in the theory reported for the curing, and found to account for approximately 6.25% of the part deformation. The deformation effect could be analyzed by the proposed analytical solution, which was coupled with a cure kinetics model and a chemical shrinkage model to capture the multi-physics that take place during the curing.

This detailed study proposes a structural health monitoring system which enables the identification, localisation, and correct measurement analysis, in relation to the damage and debonding induced by low energy impacts within aircraft composite wing panels. The said system has been envisaged as an offline system which aims to be considered as a valid alternative method in relation to the current first two maintenance approach levels: visual inspection, which is to be followed if necessary by ultrasonic scanning techniques. The architecture includes two different technologies which act at different frequency ranges: high-frequency sensors/actuators piezoceramics and low-frequency distributed fiber optic sensors. Experimental and numerical results on small stiffened panels are illustrated in this study, where technological verification and validation have been assessed within a laboratory-controlled environment. In addition, the potential benefit by utilising such techniques within the design of the aircraft composite structures has also been illustrated; in comparison with the current aircraft composite structures, a higher weight saving and better performing structures is foreseen.

There has been a growing interest in the use of composites especially in structural application ranging from aerospace to automotive and marine sectors. However, their performances under impact loading represent one of the major concerns as impacts may occur during manufacture, normal operations and maintenance. This paper presents two novel NDT techniques, thermosonics and digital shearography (DISH) to detect and assess barely visible impact damage (BVID) produced on a stiffened composite wing panel by unknown low energy impacts. Thermosonics is based on synchronized infrared imaging and ultrasonic excitation. Despite the apparent simplicity of the experimental setup, thermosonics involves a number of factors, e.g. acoustic horn location, horn crack proximity, horn-sample coupling etc., that significantly tend to influence both the degree and the period of the excitation. Then, a numerical-experimental procedure for the assessment of the size and depth of delamination by digital shearography (DISH) is proposed. The flaw detection capabilities of DISH have been evaluated by measuring the dynamic response of the delaminated area to applied stresses. The shearographic methodology is based on the recognition of the (0 1) resonance mode per defect. A simplified model of thin circular plate, idealized above each impacted area, is used to calculate the natural frequency of vibrating delamination. The numerical difference between experimental resonance frequencies and those computationally obtained is minimized using an unconstrained optimization algorithm in order to calculate the delamination depth. The results showed that thermosonics is a quick and effective method to detect and localize BVID damage while the combined shearography and optimization methodology was able to size and localize delamination due to low velocity impacts.

Composite materials have been more and more used in aircraft primary structures such as wing and fuselage. The aim of this thesis is to identify an effective way to optimize composite wing structure, especially the stiffened skin panels for minimum weight subject to stiffness and strength constraints. Many design variables (geometrical dimensions, ply angle proportion and stacking sequence) are involved in the optimum design of a composite stiffened panel. Moreover, in order to meet practical design, manufacturability and maintainability requirements should be taken into account as well, which makes the optimum design problem more complicated. In this thesis, the research work consists of three steps: Firstly, attention is paid to metallic stiffened panels. Based on the study of Emero’s optimum design method and buckling analysis, a VB program IPO, which employs closed form equations to obtain buckling load, is developed to facilitate the optimization process. The IPO extends the application of Emero’s method to an optimum solution based on user defined panel dimensional range to satisfy practical design constraints. Secondly, the optimum design of a composite stiffened panel is studied. Based on the research of laminate layup effects on buckling load and case study of bucking analysis methods, a practical laminate database (PLDB) concept is presented, upon which the optimum design procedure is established. By employing the PLDB, laminate equivalent modulus and closed form equations, a VB program CPO is developed to achieve the optimum design of a composite stiffened panel. A multi-level and step-length-adjustable optimization strategy is applied in CPO, which makes the optimization process efficient and effective. Lastly, a composite outer wing box, which is related to the author’s GDP work, is optimized by CPO. Both theoretical and practical optimum solutions are obtained and the results are validated by FE analysis.

Large-aspect-ratio wings and composite structures both have been considered for the next-generation civil transport aircraft to achieve improved aerodynamic efficiency and to save aircraft structural weight. The use of the large-aspect-ratio and the light-weight composite wing can lead to an enhanced flexibility of the aircraft wing, which may cause many aeroelastic problems such as large deflections, increased drag, onset of flutter, loss of control authority, etc. Aeroelastic tailoring, internal structural layout design and aerodynamic wing shape morphing are all considered to address these aeroelastic problems through multidisciplinary design, analysis and optimization (MDAO) studies in this work. Performance Adaptive Aeroelastic Wing (PAAW) program was initiated by NASA to leverage the flexibility associated with the use of the large-aspect-ratio wings and light-weight composite structures in a beneficial way for civil transport aircraft wing design. The biologically inspired SpaRibs concept is used for aircraft wing box internal structural layout design to achieve the optimal stiffness distribution to improve the aircraft performance. Along with the use of the active aeroelastic wing concept through morphing wing shape including the wing jig-shape, the control surface rotations and the aeroelastic tailoring scheme using composite laminates with ply-drop for wing skin design, a MDAO framework, which has the capabilities in total structural weight minimization, total drag minimization during cruise, ground roll distance minimization in takeoff and load alleviation in various maneuver loads by morphing its shape, is developed for designing models used in the PAAW program. A bilevel programming (BLP) multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) architecture is developed for the MDAO framework. The upper-level optimization problem entails minimization of weight, drag and ground roll distance, all subjected to both static constraints and the global dynamic requirements including flutter mode and free vibration modes due to the specified control law design for body freedom flutter suppression and static margin constraint. The lower-level optimization is conducted to minimize the total drag by morphing wing shape, to minimize wing root bending moment by scheduling flap rotations (a surrogate for weight reduction), and to minimize the takeoff ground roll distance. Particle swarm optimization and gradient-based optimization are used, respectively, in the upper-level and the lower-level optimization problems. Optimization results show that the wing box with SpaRibs can further improve the aircraft performances, especially in a large weight saving, as compared to the wing with traditional spars and ribs. Additionally, the nonuniform chord control surface associated with the wing with SpaRibs achieve further reductions in structural weight, total drag and takeoff ground roll distance for an improved aircraft performance. For a further improvement of the global wing skin panel design, an efficient finite element approach is developed in designing stiffened composite panels with arbitrarily shaped stiffeners for buckling and vibration analyses. The developed approach allows the finite element nodes for the stiffeners and panels not to coincide at the panel-stiffeners interfaces. The stiffness, mass and geometric stiffness matrices for the stiffeners can be transformed to those for the panel through the displacement compatibility at their interfaces. The method improves the feasible model used in shape optimizing by avoiding repeated meshing for stiffened plate. Also, it reduces the order of the finite element model, a fine mesh typically associated with the skin panel stiffened by many stiffeners, for an efficient structural analysis. Several benchmark cases have been studied to verify the accuracy of the developed approach for stiffened composite panel structural analyses. Several parametric studies are conducted to show the influence of stiffener shape/placement/depth-ratio on panel's buckling and vibration responses. The developed approach shows a potential benefit of using gradient-based optimization for stiffener shape design.
Ph. D.

The principal aim of this thesis is to analyse the effectiveness of multifunctional composites as intelligent structures to improve mechanical properties and activate additional non-structural features. In order to investigate these multiple aspects, a comprehensive literature review has been presented focusing on the state-of-the-art in multifunctional composites. The importance of simultaneous consideration of the nonlinearly-coupled functions in a multifunctional device is demonstrated. The development of an analytical model for a multilayer stack subjected to temperature change is demonstrated here. Thin continuous layers of materials bonded together deform as a plate due to their differing coefficients of thermal expansion and/or shear on subjecting the bonded materials to the change in temperature. Applications of such structures can be found in the electronic industry in printed circuit boards for the study of warpage issues or in the aerospace industry as laminated thin sheets used as skin structures for load-bearing members such as wings and fuselage. In avionics, critical high-power packages (IGBT, Power FETs) include several layers of widely differing materials (Aluminum, Solder, Copper, ceramics) subjected to a wide range of cyclic temperature changes. Modeling of such structures by the application of three-dimensional finite element methods is usually time-consuming and may not accurately predict the interlaminar strains. Efforts have been made here to obtain closed-form solutions for such a multilayered stack using a set of recursive polynomial equations on subjecting the stack to temperature changes under steady-state conditions. These efforts focused on investigating laminate mechanical properties, as well as preliminary coupled electrical-structural-thermal micromechanical analyses. Several carbon reinforcing materials and potential laminate orientations were analyzed through both FEM and analytical methods to determine laminate flexural properties. In the second phase of the work, investigation on the directionality of sound radiated from a rectangular panel, attached with masses/springs, set in a baffle, is studied. The attachment of masses/springs is done based on the receptance method. Receptance method is used to generate new mode shapes and natural frequencies of the coupled system, in terms of the old mode shapes and natural frequencies. The Rayleigh integral is then used to compute the sound field. The point mass/spring locations are arbitrary, but chosen with the objective of attaining a unique directionality. The excitation frequency to a large degree decides the sound field variations. However, the size of the masses and the locations of the masses/springs do influence the new mode shapes, and hence the sound field. The problem is more complex when the number of masses/springs are increased and/or their values are made different. The technique of receptance method is demonstrated through a steel plate with attached point masses in the first example. In the second and third examples, the present method is applied to estimate the sound field from a composite panel with attached springs and masses, respectively. The layup sequence of the composite panel considered in the examples corresponds to the multifunctional structure battery material system, used in a micro air vehicle (MAV). The demonstrated receptance method does give a reasonable estimate of the new modes. In the third phase of this work, effects of the multifunctional composites on a few critical aeroelastic features have been investigated. The relevant modes used for the computation of flutter have been experimentally validated and mode assurance criteria (MAC) using DEW software is utilized to ascertain relevant modes. Some computational case studies related to both high-speed and low-speed unmanned aerial vehicles have been completed. Keywords: Multifunctional Composites, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Finite Element Method.

O σχεδιασμός και η ανάπτυξη μιας σύγχρονης αεροναυπηγικής κατασκευής περιλαμβάνει ως επιμέρους φάσεις (μεταξύ άλλων) τον αρχικό και τον προκαταρκτικό σχεδιασμό. Οι φάσεις αυτές έχουν ιδιαίτερη σημασία διότι εκεί δίνεται η αρχική μορφή και οι διαστάσεις της κατασκευής. Είναι γεγονός ότι η συμβατική σχεδίαση των βασικών δομικών στοιχείων των αεροσκαφών έχει φτάσει σε πολύ υψηλό επίπεδο βελτιστοποίησης που επιδέχεται πλέον μόνο μικρά περιθώρια περαιτέρω βελτίωσης. Οι σύγχρονες όμως απαιτήσεις των ελαφρών κατασκευών, όπως δραστική μείωση του βάρους, αύξηση του ωφέλιμου φορτίου κτλ. ωθεί τις αεροναυπηγικές βιομηχανίες στη δημιουργία δομών που ξεφεύγουν από τις παραδοσιακές (μη-συμβατικές δομές). Παράλληλα με τα παραπάνω γίνεται προσπάθεια για μερική αντικατάσταση μεταλλικών υλικών από σύνθετα υλικά στις πρωτεύουσες δομές αεροναυπηγικών κατασκευών. Για να σχεδιαστούν και να εξελιχθούν μη-συμβατικές αεροναυπηγικές δομές χωρίς να καταφύγει κάποιος σε εκτενείς πειραματικές δοκιμές, η σύγχρονη τάση είναι η ανάπτυξη και ο συνδυασμός προτύπων συμπεριφοράς στη λογική της εξομοίωσης των πειραματικών δοκιμών. Η εξομοίωση αυτή επιτυγχάνεται με τη βοήθεια ηλεκτρονικών υπολογιστών και κατάλληλων μεθόδων βασισμένων στη θεωρία των πινάκων (Πεπερασμένα Στοιχεία, Συνοριακά Στοιχεία κλπ.). Στη φάση του αρχικού και προκαταρκτικού σχεδιασμού η εφαρμογή των μεθοδολογιών προσομοίωσης δεν είναι πάντοτε εύκολη και απλή, λόγω των πολλαπλών αλλαγών στη γεωμετρία, το υλικό και τις κατασκευαστικές λεπτομέρειες που πραγματοποιούνται στη δομή κατά την επαναληπτική διαδικασία του σχεδιασμού. Επομένως, η αποκλειστική χρήση αριθμητικών μεθόδων ανάλυσης καθίσταται αναποτελεσματική από άποψη χρονικών απαιτήσεων, αν δεν συνοδεύεται από αναλυτικές ή ημιαναλυτικές προσεγγίσεις επιμέρους προβλημάτων του σχεδιασμού. Βασικό μέρος του προκαταρκτικού σχεδιασμού μιας πτέρυγας μη συμβατικής δομής αποτελεί η αποφυγή της αστοχίας του άνω τμήματός της, διότι οι λεπτότοιχες ενισχυμένες με δοκούς πλάκες που χρησιμοποιούνται στην κατασκευή υφίστανται λυγισμό λόγω των θλιπτικών φορτίσεων που κυρίως παραλαμβάνουν. Η διαστασιολόγηση των σύνθετων πλακών που φέρουν δοκούς ενίσχυσης στις κατασκευές αυτές απαιτούν συνήθως πλήθος επαναληπτικών υπολογισμών για διαφορετικές γεωμετρίες, φορτίσεις, οριακές συνθήκες κλπ. Η εξέταση της κάθε περίπτωσης μεμονωμένα με τη χρήση αριθμητικών μεθόδων καθιστά την επίλυση ολόκληρης της κατασκευής εξαιρετικά χρονοβόρα. Για το λόγο αυτό, στη φάση της αρχικής θεωρητικής μελέτης και της αρχικής διαστασιολόγησης η χρησιμοποίηση αναλυτικών μεθόδων για την εύρεση του κρίσιμου φορτίου λυγισμού πλακών με δοκούς ενίσχυσης οδηγεί στην εξοικονόμηση υπολογιστικού κόστους. Επομένως, η ανάπτυξη αναλυτικών ή ημιαναλυτικών μεθόδων προσδιορισμού των φορτίων λυγισμού ενισχυμένων με δοκούς συνθέτων πλακών και κελυφών θεωρείται πολύ σημαντική. Για τον σκοπό αυτό, στο πλαίσιο αυτής της διατριβής, αναπτύσσονται αναλυτικές και ημιαναλυτικές λύσεις για το λυγισμό πολύστρωτων πλακών ενισχυμένων με ενισχυτικές διαμήκεις δοκούς, οι οποίες ενσωματώνονται σαν κριτήρια στη μέθοδο διαστασιολόγησης της δομής. Η μεθοδολογία συμπληρώνεται με πλήθος άλλων κατάλληλων κριτηρίων για τον έλεγχο της αντοχής των δομικών στοιχείων της πτέρυγας καθώς και με κριτήρια για την επαναδιαστασιολόγηση των στοιχείων κατά την επαναληπτική διαδικασία της βελτιστοποίησης. Με τη μεθοδολογία που αναπτύσσεται διερευνούνται διατάξεις δομής πτερύγων από σύνθετα υλικά με πολυάριθμες κύριες δοκούς. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, αναπτύσσονται αναλυτικές/ημιαναλυτικές λύσεις ολικού και τοπικού λυγισμού πλακών που φέρουν δοκούς ενίσχυσης. Όσον αφορά τον ολικό λυγισμό αναπτύσσεται μια μεθοδολογία που βασίζεται στη μαθηματική μετατροπή μιας πλάκας που φέρει δοκούς ενίσχυσης σε μια ισοδύναμη ομογενή πλάκα. Η αναπτυχθείσα μεθοδολογία ομογενοποίησης των ενισχυμένων πλακών εμφανίζει σημαντικά πλεονεκτήματα σε σύγκριση με τις αντίστοιχες ήδη υπάρχουσες. Παράλληλα, η ενεργειακή μέθοδος Rayleigh-Ritz εφαρμόζεται για τη λύση προβλημάτων λυγισμού μερικώς ανισότροπων πλακών με ενισχυτικές δοκούς από σύνθετα υλικά, λαμβάνοντας διακριτά υπόψη τις ενισχυτικές δοκούς. Όσον αφορά το πρόβλημα του τοπικού λυγισμού, αναπτύσσεται μια νέα μεθοδολογία για την εύρεση των κρίσιμων φορτίων τοπικού λυγισμού λεπτότοιχης πλάκας με χρήση ενεργειακών μεθόδων. Το μαθηματικό μοντέλο που χρησιμοποιείται για την περίπτωση του τοπικού λυγισμού της επικάλυψης είναι η απομόνωση του τμήματος της επικάλυψης μεταξύ δυο ενισχυτικών δοκών και η αντικατάσταση της δυσκαμψίας της υπόλοιπης πλάκας με ελατήρια μεταβλητής δυσκαμψίας. Η μεθοδολογία αυτή επεκτείνεται και στον προσδιορισμό της μεταλυγισμικής συμπεριφοράς μιας πλάκας ενισχυμένης με διαμήκεις δοκούς. Οι παραπάνω μεθοδολογίες υπολογισμού του κρίσιμου φορτίου λυγισμού που αναπτύσσονται, στα πλαίσια αυτής της διατριβής, εφαρμόζονται στη διαστασιολόγηση πτέρυγας μη συμβατικής δομής από σύνθετα υλικά με πολυάριθμες κύριες δοκούς, σε αντίθεση με τις συμβατικές πτέρυγες (με δύο κύριες δοκούς). Η ανάλυση τάσεων της πτέρυγας πραγματοποιείται με τη βοήθεια της μεθόδου των πεπερασμένων στοιχείων. Η τελική διαστασιολόγηση επιτυγχάνεται με επαναληπτική διαδικασία βελτιστοποίησης βασισμένη σε αναλυτικές και ημιαναλυτικές σχέσεις. Με τον τρόπο αυτό, συγκρίνεται λεπτομερώς η συμβατική δομή πτέρυγας με 2 κύριες δοκούς και οι αντίστοιχες πτέρυγες με 4, 5 και 6 κύριες δοκούς. Για την περαιτέρω βελτιστοποίηση της συμπεριφοράς της πτέρυγας, διερευνάται η επίδραση που έχει η αλλαγή των μηχανικών ιδιοτήτων του υλικού και των επιτρεπόμενων ορίων παραμόρφωσης στη δυνατότητα ελαχιστοποίησης της μάζας της πτέρυγας. Υπολογίστηκε ότι κάτω από συγκεκριμένες συνθήκες η χρήση της μη συμβατικής πτέρυγας μπορεί να οδηγήσει σε μείωση μάζας μέχρι και 12%.
The design and development of a modern aerospace structure consists of many design stages. The most important stages are the conceptual and the preliminary where the initial sizing of the structure is obtained. It is known that the conventional design of the aircraft’s main structural members has reached a high optimization level, where margins for further improvement are small. The current demands of the lightweight structures such as weight reduction, payload increase etc. have led the aerospace industries develop unconventional structures and partially substitute the metallic materials of the primary structures with composites. The current trend of designing and evolving unconventional aerospace structures, without performing extended experimental tests, leads to the development of behavior models. The simulation of the experimental tests (through the behavior models) is achieved using high performance computers and numerical methods (Finite Element Method, Boundary Element Method etc). To apply simulation methods during the conceptual and preliminary stage is not an easy task. Most of the difficulties are the numerous geometrical, material parameters and the structural details that alter during the iterative process of the design. So, the exclusive usage of numerical analysis methods becomes very time consuming, if it is not accompanied by analytical or semi analytical methods of the sub-problems of the design. Part of the preliminary design of an unconventional wing structure is to prevent upper skin from failure. The stiffened panels that comprise the upper skin of the wing suffer from buckling due to the applied compressive loads. The sizing of the composite stiffened panels usually requires numerous of iterative calculations for various geometries, loading and boundary conditions etc. The examination of each case separately, with the use of numerical methods, results to time consuming analyses of the entire structure. Therefore, the development of appropriate analytical or semi analytical methods for estimating stiffened panels’ critical buckling load is of great importance. For this purpose, in the present thesis, analytical and semi analytical methodologies are developed for estimating the critical buckling load of stiffened panels. The developed methodologies are incorporated as design criteria in the sizing routine of the entire structure. The sizing routine comprises additional sizing criteria for checking the strength of wing’s structural members at each phase of the iterative process. Applying the developed sizing routine in various wing configurations made of composite materials, multispar wing designs are studied. Specifically, analytical and semi analytical methods for global and local buckling problems of stiffened panels are developed. The methodology of global buckling problems is based on the mathematical conversion of a stiffened panel to an equivalent homogeneous panel. The developed method of homogenization of stiffened panels appears to have significant advantages over the already existed homogenization methods. Additionally, the energy method Rayleigh-Ritz is applied for solving global buckling problems of stiffened panels with partial anisotropy considering discrete stiffeners. Regarding local buckling problems of stiffened panels, a new methodology is developed for estimating the critical local buckling load with the use of energy methods. The approach considers the stiffened panel segment located between two stiffeners, while the remaining panel is replaced by equivalent transverse and rotational springs of varying stiffness, which act as elastic edge supports. The buckling analysis of the segment provides an accurate and conservative prediction of the panel local buckling behavior. Consequently, the developed methodology is extended in the prediction of post-buckling response of stiffened panels where skin has undergone local buckling. The developed methodologies for calculating the critical buckling load are applied for sizing the wing members of an unconventional wing (multispar configuration) from composite materials. An efficient methodology based on fast Finite Element (FE) stress analysis combined to analytically formulated design criteria is presented for the initial sizing of a large scale composite component. A detailed comparison between optimized designs of conventional (2-spar) and three alternative wing configurations which comprise 4-, 5-, and 6-spars for the wing construction is performed. In order to understand the effect of different material properties, as well as the variation of maximum strain level allowed in the total wing mass, parametric analyses are performed for all wing configurations considered. It arises that under certain conditions the multispar configuration demonstrates significant advantages over the conventional design. This would lead to a mass reduction of 12%.

Health management methodologies for condition-based maintenance are often developed using sensor data collected during experimental tests. Most tests performed in laboratories focus on a coupon level or flat panels, while structural component testing is less commonly seen. As researchers, we often consider our experimental tests to be representative of a structure in a final application and consider the developed methodologies to be transferrable to these real-life structures. Yet, structures in their final applications such as wind turbines or aircraft are often larger, more complex, might contain various assembly details, and are loaded in complex conditions. These factors might influence the performance of developed diagnostic and prognostic methodologies and should therefore not be ignored. In our work, we consider the aspects of upscaling structural health monitoring (SHM) methodologies for stiffened composite panels with the design of the panels inspired by an aircraft wing structure. For this, we examine two levels of panels, namely a single- and multi-stiffener composite panel, where we consider the single-stiffener panel to be a representative lower-level version of the multi-stiffener panel. Multiple SHM sensors (acoustic emission, Lamb waves, strain sensing) were installed on both composite panels to monitor damage propagation during testing. We identify and analyse challenges and further discuss considerations that must be taken during upscaling of diagnostics and prognostics, and with that, aid in the development of health management methodologies for condition-based maintenance.

Abstract This paper describes a design study in which a stiffened composite wing panel is configured for a combination of performance and manufacturing related requirements. The principal focus of the paper resides in demonstrating the adaptation of newly emergent soft-computing methods for a variety of sub-tasks that constitute the design process. These sub-tasks include function approximations, modeling of processes that lack a good analytical description, and design optimization in a space that consists of a mix of integer, discrete, and continuous design variables. Soft computing techniques discussed in this context include function approximations using back-propagation neural networks, modeling of the composite panel fabrication process using evolutionary fuzzy models, and the application of genetic algorithms and immune network modeling to the optimization problem.

This paper presents the procedure to make omega stiffeners using the method of 4D printing of composites. The method allows the manufacturing of complex structures without the need for a complex mold. Instead, flat layers of composite prepregs are laid on a flat mold. Due to the anisotropy of the different layers in the laminates, the stack of prepregs will change from its flat configuration into the omega shape upon curing and cooling to room temperature. The cavity is filled with foam to make the final structure.

This paper investigates the heaving and pitching of a wing-like parameterized cantilevered plate with a leading edge stiffener and clamp variation when actuated with a surface-bonded piezoelectric actuator. The response is analyzed using a finite element model that is validated by comparison with known analytical solutions. The validated finite-element model is subjected to a harmonic excitation parametric analysis. The parameters varied in the model are the root clamped percentage, leading edge stiffener thickness, and the aspect ratio of the plate. The model is examined at the first two Eigen frequencies. Metrics of heaving and pitching are developed using surface fitting methods and their amplitudes and phases are reported throughout the parameter space. Emphasis is placed on the interaction and coupling of the first two modes of vibration with respect to the parameters. A piezo-composite wing prototype is fabricated and actuated harmonically with a Macro-Fiber Composite actuator while leading edge stiffener thickness and root clamped percentage is varied. The resulting experimental data is used to further validate the theoretical models.

The use of composite material in modern commercial aircraft has increased significantly in recent years. The very low conductivity relative to Aluminium of composite materials means that the thermal environment experienced in an aircraft, during flight and on the apron, are significantly altered. The heat transfer mechanism is complex: natural and mixed convection flows established in compartments. This paper presents the thermally induced flow structures under representative conditions for a rectangular cavity representative of wing boxes and horizontal tail planes. The paper highlights the sensitivity to boundary conditions, the effect of structural stiffeners. The results indicate it may be possible to incorporate the effect of stringers and heating from above into existing correlations.

Delamination between plies is the root cause of many failures of composite materials structures such as wind turbine blades. Design methodologies to prevent such failures have not been widely available for the materials and processes used in blades. This paper presents simplified methodologies for the prediction of delamination under both static and fatigue loading at typical structural details in blades. The methodology is based on fracture mechanics. The critical strain energy release rate, GIC and GIIC, are determined for opening mode (I) and shearing mode (II) delamination cracks; fatigue crack growth in each mode is also characterized. These data can be used directly for matrix selection, and as properties for the prediction of delamination in structural details. The strain energy release rates are then determined for an assumed interlaminar flaw in the structural detail. The flaw is positioned based on finite element analysis (FEA), and the strain energy release rates are calculated using the virtual crack closure feature available in codes like ANSYS. The methodology has been validated for a skin-stiffener intersection. Two prediction methods differing in complexity and data requirements have been explored. Results for both methods show good agreement between predicted and experimental delamination loads under both static and fatigue loading.

Advances in conventional tape laminates and textile composites provide aircraft manufacturers important technology, but the industry lacks the confidence to use these composites to manufacture wing and fuselage structures due to high cost and low damage tolerance. In order to overcome the high cost and to improve the damage tolerance of composites, researchers have developed new through-the-thickness reinforcement techniques, such as stitching through the thickness. This reinforcement technique can be used to join the skin, stiffeners, ribs and spars to form an integral structure. The structures are typically more damage tolerant, contain fewer fasteners and are less expensive to manufacture than conventional composite or metallic structures. Furthermore, stitching reduces the manufacturing time and labor compared to drilling holes for fasteners, and may eliminate the problems of fatigue and/or corrosion from galvanic reactions with metal fasteners. Woven composites with through the thickness reinforcements such as stitching have good properties not only in mutually orthogonal directions but also in the transverse direction and more balanced properties than traditional tape laminates. They are also expected to have better fatigue and impact resistance due to the interlacing. Another benefit is reduced manufacturing cost by reducing part count. Because of these potential benefits, these composites are being considered for various applications including primary/secondary components for aerospace structures. The objective of this effort is to develop experimental tools for comparing the performance of these composites reinforced by stitching to unstitched composites. Identification of damage mechanisms and forces available to grow damage is essential for identifying the primary parameters that determine performance. Accurate determination of the driving forces will require extensive manufacturing and experimentation. However, once the reinforcement techniques are well understood, it is anticipated that simplified experiments can be developed that could be used routinely by designers to evaluate the effects of the reinforcements on damage tolerance. This paper specifically addresses the performance evaluation of stitched low cost manufactured composites subjected to static loading. Static tension and compression testing was conducted to determine the Ultimate Tensile and Compressive Strengths, Young’s Moduli and Poisson’s Ratio. Two different stitch patterns or stitch densities were used for comparison. The first density was five rows of stitching per inch of width, with eight stitches per inch over the entire length. The second density was three rows of stitching per inch of width, with four stitches per inch over the entire length.