Digital Aviation Academy Chapter One

Aircraft Structures: Aircraft Loads

TOPICS
Typical Loads on an Aircraft

Elastic Properties

Structural Safe-Life

Fail-Safe Structures

Damage Tolerant Structures

Typical Loads on an Aircraft

Welcome to this lesson on aircraft structures. This lesson will provide you with a solid founda-
tion of how modern jet transport aircraft are designed and constructed. It will illustrate in great
detail how innovative aircraft design and manufacture has enabled airliners to carry increasingly
greater loads over greater distances.

This is a must know subject if you wish to become a professional airline pilot. Our aim is to arm
you with the knowledge you will need to progress easily to the Airline Transport Pilots License
ground examination courses later in your career. We will begin by looking at the
Typical loads on an aircraft.

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Aircraft Structures: Aircraft Loads

Aircraft Structural Loads

So, lets now turn our attention to the basics of aircraft structures, namely aircraft structural
loads.

There have been several advancements in aircraft manufacturing through the years, together
with factors which affect the design process. None of those factors have been more significant
than understanding the forces that impinge upon that aircraft during its day-to-day operation.

This knowledge re-shaped the design process. By providing you with an appreciation of struc-
tural loads, our hope is that it will offer you a lasting foundation in which to build further
knowledge.

The Four Structural Loads

FOUR MAIN LOADS

Tension

Torsion

Compression

Shear

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Aircraft Structures: Aircraft Loads

Tension Torsion

Compression Shear

Above is a list of structural loads, these loads impact on the operation of an aircraft in flight
and on the ground. Aircraft designers place these loads into the following four components:

Tension
A tension, or tensile load, is a load that tends to stretch a particular structure. Components
designed to resist tensile loads are termed ties.

Torsion
Torsion is simply a twisting motion, which can cause considerable structural damage. The
Torsional stress within the structure is resisting the load.

Compression
A Compressive load is one which shortens a structure. Components designed to resist
Compressive loads are termed struts.

Shear
Shear is a force which slides the face of one component over another. Riveted joints are de-
signed to resist shear forces.

Remember, these loads will bend, compress, elongate, shear and twist an aircraft’s structure
with consistent regularity, and must therefore be counteracted.

The study of loads and their consequent deformations helps us appreciate how aircraft are built
with a view to operational safety, and therefore allowing passengers to be carried in comfort.

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Aircraft Structures: Aircraft Loads

Elastic Properties
We now know that the materials used to construct an aircraft will frequently undergo deforma-
tions during its normal operations. These deformations sometimes lead to structural fractures
and creep.

Creep, as illustrated above, is where the materials natural in-built elasticity enables it to stretch
when under load. The disparity between a materials initial length, and its resulting elongation,
is the measure of its creep value. The creep value will also depend on the type of material and
it’s applied duration.

Here is a list of the factors which affect creep:

Material Type

Load Applied

Duration of Load

Temperature

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Aircraft Structures: Aircraft Loads

Forces Acting on Aircraft

Inertia Drag Weight Temperature
Altitude Lift Mass Acceleration

In Flight In Flight
On Ground On Ground

Pressurisation Thrust Reversal Stationary Take-Off

Landing Friction Braking Taxiing
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Aircraft Structures: Aircraft Loads
Forces Acting on Aircraft in Flight

Lift During flight the lift acting on the wings has a tendency to flex the wings upwards. As
a consequence a compressive force acts on the upper surface and tension acts on the
lower surface of the wings.

Drag Drag has a tendency to react to components by impeding the airflow and bending
components Backwards.

Mass The mass of the aircraft will push the aircraft downward toward the earth.

Weight Weight is Mass multiplied by gravity. Gravity is assumed to be 9.81 m/s2

Acceleration Acceleration increases the drag acting on the aircraft’s

components

Temperature A temperature decrease can make some materials brittle, while an

increase makes them ductile.

Inertia During aircraft manoeuvres, an aircraft will try and maintain its
original direction, causing additional stress on the aircraft structure.

Altitude A gain in altitude can reduce ambient static pressure on the outside of
the aircraft and internal pressurisation can result in axial loads
acting on the pressurised hull.

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Aircraft Structures: Aircraft Loads
Forces Acting on Aircraft on the Ground

Landing With the momentum and inertia acting downward on landing, an sdditional
stress is placed on the landing gear, causing structural compression.

Friction Rolling friction between the wheels and the ground can act to rotate the
fuselage forward.

Braking Application of the main wheel brakes can cause the aircraft nose to pitch
down.

Taxiing Wings flex up and down over rough surfaces, while rolling friction results in
aircraft side loads when turning.

Pressurisation On landing, when the aircraft is still pressurised, there is an increased

load on the airframe due to the pressurisaion loads imposed, acting
together with the landing loads.

Thrust Reversal During reverse thrust, a load is placed on the engine’s mounting, due
to the reversal of the aircraft’s forward velocity.

Stationary When the aircraft is stationary on the ground, there is an additional

stress placed on the aircraft, as the undercarriage alone supports its
entire mass.

Take-Off From a stationary start, the aircraft has to overcome inertia, then an
increase in drag during the takeoff run produces more stress.

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Aircraft Structures: Aircraft Loads
Structural Safe-Life
Needless to say, all those responsible for the design and construction of modern aircraft will endeav-
our to produce structures that are capable of withstanding all the loads forced upon it in flight and
on the ground.

With this in mind, and in order to negate the possible threat of a structural failure occurring during
normal aircraft operations, its structure, and all of its components are gifted with a safe-life

So, what is a safe-life? The safe-life is there to ensure that any degradation of a structure can be ac-
commodated routinely during its normal inspection period, thereby extending its operational life.
However, if it transpired that no deformation had taken place during that time period, the safe-life
provided to that component can be extended accordingly. The safe-life is predicated on the
following:
Number of Flying hours Elapsed

The Number of Landings

The Number of Pressurisation Cycles Elapsed

The Calendar Time

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Aircraft Structures: Aircraft Loads

Designers understand the necessity to help extend the operational life of the aircraft during its initial
design process, while suitably complying with any regulations currently applicable.

In so doing, the objective is to minimise the effects of metal fatigue and corrosion. To assist in
achieving this, they will utilise a design philosophy call Fail-safe or Damage-Tolerant Structures.

Fail-Safe Structures

Fail-safe methodology adheres to a design initiative whereby a single structure does not support its
entire load. The idea is that the load is split between numbers of supporting components.

Therefore, should one of those components fail, its structure is supported by another, enabling it to
maintain its integrity due to the additional load paths.

A regular maintenance program must support fail-safe structures in order to reveal any damage
prior to their occurrence.

However, due to the additional components, and their consequent weight penalty, designers are now
migrating toward Damage-Tolerant Structures.

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Aircraft Structures: Aircraft Loads
Damage-Tolerant Structures

Damage-tolerant structures are conceived to spread structural loads over a larger area. The concept
leads to the elimination of the extra structural members required of a fail-safe methodology. The
process enables lighter aircraft structures to be manufactured.

These structures will be tolerant of accidental damage, fatigue and corrosion and any such condition
would be discovered during normal inspection.

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Digital Aviation Academy Chapter Two
Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage

The Structure of the Fuselage

We will now study the aircraft fuselage. Having gained an appreciation of how loads affect an aircraft
in flight and on the ground, and the design philosophies utilised to counteract them, we are now in a
position to proceed and study the structure of the aircraft fuselage.

After studying this lesson, you will have learned the following topics:

TOPICS
Monocoque Structures

Semi-Monocoque Structures

Reinforced Structures

Effects of Pressurisation

Flight-Deck Windows

Passenger Cabin Windows The Fuselage is a massive cylindrical structure which holds a
number of important components essential to the safe op-
eration of the aircraft. Up-front is the flight-deck containing
the pilots, who are responsible for its safe operation.

Components of the Aircraft Fuselage

The passenger cabin takes up most of the aircraft fuselage, underneath which, are the freight and
passenger luggage compartments. Attached to this structure are the wings, with their associated
winglets, the pylon mounted engines, the horizontal stabiliser and the fin, each with their own indi-
vidual control surface. We will discuss these in an upcoming lesson.

The aircraft fuselage is also responsible for helping transfer loads to and from those other structures.

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Digital Aviation Academy Chapter Two
Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage

The Fuselage
Fuselage

The Fuselage

Passenger Cabin
Aircraft Fuselage Cutout
Cargo Compartment
Monocoque Structures
In building the fuselage of a modern jet transport aircraft, designers use one of the two most popular
construction methods. The first of these methods is termed monocoque and the second is named
semi-monocoque.

Monocoque originates from the Greek and French words respectively, meaning ‘single shell’. A per-
fect example of a monocoque structure is an eggshell.

Eggs are an excellent Example of a Monocoque Structure

Monocoque Structures are impractical

for modern air transport aircraft due
to the necessity for doors and windows
cut into the structure. This is why a
Semi-Monocoque structure is
recommended.

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Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage
In a purely monocoque structure, which is sometimes referred to as ‘structural skin’ or ‘stressed skin’,
the loads are taken-up by its external covering, this covering or skin, is supported and shaped by
light frames or formers, as shown in the illustration below.
Skin
Former
Due to the stress imparted by
air loads, and the need to carry
cargo and passengers, the mono-
coque structure’s skin would end
up being unacceptably heavy and
would, as such, be impractical.

Monocoque Structure

Semi-Monocoque Structures
As transport aircraft became larger and more powerful, with the consequent increase in air loads, a
requirement for additional structural support became evident. To this end, it was decided to incor-
porate stringers or longerons.

These are sometimes also referred to as stiffeners. They are strips of material in which the skin of the
aircraft is fixed securely. Longerons are attached to formers, also called frames, and run lengthwise
along the aircraft fuselage joining the frames together.

Frame
Skin

Stringers
Semi-Monocoque Structure

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Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage

Modern jet transport aircraft now use the semi-monocoque design almost exclusively; this is due to
the necessity to incorporate additional fittings, such as doors and windows, and all the other mount-
ings, which ultimately provide added stress to the aircraft’s skin.

Without the requirement for frames and longerons, the increasing loads on more powerful aircraft
would necessitate a much thicker external skin. Consequently, unlike the purely monocoque design,
the semi-monocoque design shares these loads across the frames and stiffeners, resulting in a much
more robust structure.

Reinforced Frames
Frames

Cutouts
Backing
Plate
Skin

Stringers

Semi-Monocoque Structure
Redundancy
In an previous lesson, we discussed the fail-safe philosophy regarding air transport aircraft. In that
discussion we said that no one particular component would be responsible for the catastrophic fail-
ure of an aircraft, as all components are supported by others. This is termed redundancy. The semi-
monocoque structure is an example of redundancy.

Need for Access

In order to provide the aircraft fuselage with access panels, doors, windows and numerous other
openings, cut-outs are necessary. However, to achieve a degree or rigidity, cut-outs are reinforced by
the use of doublers or backing plates.

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Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage
Reinforced Structures
In the illustration in the previous page, we can see that the areas designated by designers for win-
dows and access panels have been reinforced by frames around the openings. This helps share the
load and alleviate the formation of cracks. Without such reinforcements, the skin of the aircraft
would carry unacceptable stresses.

Aircraft Rivets on a Semi-Monocoque Structure

Cabin Pressurisation
An important consideration when studying the role of the aircraft fuselage and its construction is to
appreciate the sizable influence pressurisation imposes upon the aircraft’s structural integrity.

Modern jet transport aircraft operate somewhere in the region of 35,000 ft above mean sea level
(amsl). The human body is unable to function at that altitude, and therefore humans require a sus-
tainable cabin pressure to maintain life.

As a consequence, a cabin altitude of approximately 7,000 to 8,000 ft amsl enables passengers and
crew to travel in comfort. The construction of the aircraft fuselage must subsequently accommodate
the forces involved in cabin pressurisation.

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Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage

Passengers Require Oxygen Above 14000 ft

Pressure Bulkheads

Position of Front Pressure Position of Rear Pressure

Bulkhead Bulkhead
The pressure is contained within the fuselage by two pressure bulkheads. From the diagram above,
we see they are positioned both front and aft of the aircraft.

The entire fuselage is normally pressurised, including the passenger and crew cabin areas, together
with the cargo compartments. This avoids the necessity for floor reinforcements.

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Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage

However, due to the stresses imposed on the aircraft’s structure, the cabin floors are normally con-
structed of a honeycomb design, made to withstand heavy loads while maintaining its inherent
rigidity. Due to its lightweight construction, it is utilised in many other aircraft panels and skins.

Honeycomb Floor Panel

Cabin Pressure Loss

Cabin
Windows

Cargo Cabin
Floor

Fuselage Cutout

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Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage
We will now go on to look at the general layout of the aircraft fuselage. We commence by consider-
ing how it accommodates a loss of pressurisation.

As discussed earlier, the fuselage is normally divided into two sections. The upper section contains
the crew and the passenger complement, whilst underneath is the cargo area consisting of cargo con-
tainers and passenger luggage. The floor separates the two pressurised sections.

Blow Out Bungs

Cabin Pressure
Honeycomb
Floor

Position
Cargo Bay Of
Blow Out
Bungs

Position of Blow Out Bungs

As both sections are pressurised, there has to be a method whereby a loss of pressurisation in one of
the sections can be accommodated prior to damaging the aircraft structure. This is achieved by the
installation of blowout bungs, which are designed to equalise the pressure when blown.

Above is an illustration detailing the relative position of the blowout bungs within the fuselage.
Remember. the cabin floor is itself made of a honeycomb structure designed to protect the floor
from buckling.

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Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage

Flight Deck Windows

Modern flight deck windows must be capable of withstanding both pressurisation and the impact of
bird strikes. To achieve this, toughened glass panels are attached to each side of a vinyl interlayer.

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Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage
Regulation dictates that flight-deck windows are able to withstand the impact from a 2kg bird strike,
without penetration, and continue safely on to its destination.

The windows are heated to help achieve this. Notice also that the flight deck windows are angled, this
facilitates a lessening of the pressure differential, which exists between cabin and ambient, together
with changes in temperature.

28 Degrees
20 Degrees

Temperature
Vertical Angle of Vision
Direct Vision Window

Direct
Vision
Window

Emergency Direct Vision Window

The above illustration shows the location of the Direct Vision Window. This window allows the
pilots to achieve forward vision should the windscreen become opaque, perhaps from being
shattered, or from the build-up of ice, or perhaps from a bird strike. Regardless, it is a sliding
window which can be opened in flight (depressurised) allowing the crew to land the aircraft safely. It
also doubles as an escape for crew during an emergency.

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Aircraft Structures: The Fuselage
Passenger Cabin Windows

Passenger cabin windows are designed to be fail-safe. They are normally constructed with two panes
of plastic, sealed air tight, then encased into the framework of the aircraft fuselage, as illustrated
below.

The idea is that the inner and outer frames are capable of accommodating the full cabin pressure
load. Therefore, should one of those panes fail, the other can adequately maintain the additional
load. Between the panes is an air gap, which is maintained at cabin pressure, allowing passengers to
rest their heads on the panes without discomfort.

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Digital Aviation Academy Chapter Three
Aircraft Structures: Wing Structure

The Structure of the Wings

TOPICS Upper Surface
Aircraft Wing Spars Leading
Edge Trailing Edge
Aircraft Wing Ribs Lower Surface
Aircraft Wing Stringers
Chord
Aircraft Wing Torsion box

Course Summary
Wings produce lift which supports the aircraft in flight. On
the upper surface the air flow has to travel further due to the
upper surface camber as opposed the distance travelled over
the lower surface.

Thus, to reach the trailing edge at the same time as the airflow over the lower surface, the
upper surface airflow has to travel further, and thus has to increase velocity.

This results is a decrease in pressure over the upper surface of the wing, which provides lift. The
amount of lift produced is dependant on the following factors:

Speed of the Air over the Wing

The Wing Camber

The Surface Area of the Wing

The shape of the wing is dependant on the intended

speed and purpose of the aircraft

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Aircraft Structures: Wing Structure
Aircraft Wing Spars

When we look at the structure of the wings, they principally consist of spars, ribs and stringers. Spars
being the key member.

The wings are principally there to enable the aircraft to fly by providing lift. They also support the air-
craft’s weight in flight and on the ground. As a consequence, the wings must be both flexible and stiff.
This flexibility is dependant on the thickness of the wing, which in turn, is dependant on the speed
requirements of the aircraft.

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Aircraft Structures: Wing Structure

Aircraft Wing Spars

The construction of the wings are centred around a main member called a spar. The spar runs the
length of the wings as either a single spar, or more than one joined together. This is in order to pro-
vide fail-safe characteristics.

The wings of an aircraft will tend to bend up and down when in flight. They will also experience
similar flexing when on the ground or while positioning for take-off. To provide relief, the struts are
designed to negate excessive stresses together with the aircraft’s associated fuel tanks and mounted
engines.

Aircraft Wing Ribs

Lightning Hole

Aircraft Wing Rib

The ribs in an aircraft’s wings are a support structure which connect the spars, stringers and skin
together. Note the lightening holes cut into them, which help stiffen the rib.

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Aircraft Structures: Wing Structure

Aircraft Wing Stringers

Rear Spar

Stringers

Wing Rib Front Spar

Aircraft Wing Stringers

Above is an illustration of a modern wings structure. The illustration shows in detail the construction
of the wing with its constituent parts. We can clearly see the combination of front and rear spars, ribs,
stringers and skin.
Wing Torsion Box

Machine Skin
Rear Spar

Wing Rib
Front Spar

Machine Skin

Aircraft Torsion Box

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Aircraft Structures: Wing Structure
Across is an example of a torsion box. A torsion box is used in a modern aircraft wing in order to
produce a more rigid structure, which is light but strong. It consists of a front and rear spar bonded
into machine skin.

Aircraft Empennage

The empennage is the unit which provides the aircrafts longitudinal and directional stability, it
consists of the same ribs, struts and stringers as other structures.

This is the End of the Reading Material

for the Course: Aircraft Structures

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Digital Aviation Academy Summary Page
Aircraft Structures: Summary
Course Summary
You should now have an understanding of the
Following Subjects:

Aircraft loads Monocoqe Structures

Elastic Properties Semi-Monocoque Structures

Structural Safe-Life Pressurisation Effects

Fail-Safe Structures Flight Deck Windows

Damage Tolerant Structures Passenger Cabin Windows

Aircraft Wing Spars

Aircraft Wing Ribs

Aircraft Wing Stringers

Aircraft Wing Torsion Box

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