DESIGN OF COMMERICAL PASSENGER AIRCRAFT

AEB4433 AIRCRAFT DESIGN PROJECT-2 REPORT

Submitted by
MAHALAKSHMI A (0018101002)

In partial fulfilment for the award of the

degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
In

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

HINDUSTAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOG AND SCIENCE
PADUR, CHENNAI - 603 103

October 2021
 HINDUSTAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOG AND SCIENCE
PADUR, CHENNAI - 603 103

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
Certified that this project report titled “DESIGN OF COMMERICAL PASSENGER
AIRCRAFT” is the bonafide work of “MAHALAKSHMI A (0018101002)” who
carried out the project work under my supervision. Certified further that to the best of my
knowledge the work reported here does not form part of any other project / research work on
the basis of which a degree or award was conferred on an earlier occasion on this or any other
candidate.

Dr. R. ASOKAN Mr. E S ELUMALAI

Head of the Department Assistant Professor
School of Aeronautical Sciences School of Aeronautical Sciences
Hindustan Institute of Technology & Hindustan Institute of Technology &
Science, Chennai, 603103 Science, Chennai, 603103

The Project Viva-Voce Examination is held on

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

i
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to all those who contributed to the
successful completion of our final year project work.
It’s a matter of pride and privilege for us to express our deep gratitude to the management of
Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science for providing us with the necessary facilities
and support.
We express our deep sense of gratitude to our respected Chairperson Dr. ElizabethVerghese
and Pro-Chancellor Dr. Anand Jacob Verghese for giving us an opportunity to do the project.
We would like to thank our Director Dr. Ashok Verghese and Vice Chancellor Dr.
S. N. Sridhara for giving us moral support to complete this project.
We would like to express our grateful thanks to Dean (E&T) Dr. Angelina Geetha and
Registrar Dr. Pon. Ramalingam for support and encouragement.
We extend our sincere thanks to our Head of the Department Dr. R Asokan for inspiring and
motivating us to complete this project.
We would like to thank our internal guide Mr. E. S. Elumalai, for continually guiding and
actively participating in our project, giving valuable suggestion to complete our project.
We would like to thank all the faculty members of the School of Aeronautical Sciences, who
have directly or indirectly extended their support.
Last, but not least, we are deeply indebted to our parents who have been our greatest support
while we worked day and night for the project to make it a success.

i
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER.NO CONTENTS PAGE NO.

Abstract iv

List of Symbols V

List of Tables vii

List of Figures vii

1 Introduction 1

2 V-n Diagram 5

3 Gust V-n diagram 9

Critical loading performance and final V-n

4 diagram 10

5 Structural design study –theory approach 11

6 Load estimation on wings 13

7 Load estimation on fuselage 24

Balancing and maneuvering loads on tail plane,
8 rudder and aileron loads 25

9 Detailed structural layouts 28

10 Design of some components of wing and fuselage 29

11 Material selection 33

12 Final Parameters 38

13 Conclusion 39

14 Bibliography 40

i
 ABSTRACT
This report is about the design and evaluation of a passenger aircraft. passenger aircraft have a
premium space in delivery market . They range from small aircraft to converted huge jumbo
aircrafts. They vary greatly in size and capacity. This report discusses the process involved in
designing and optimizing a commercial passenger aircraft.
The report starts with an introduction to aircraft design and passenger aircrafts. Performance,
specifications, and other parameters of ten existing passenger aircraft that are similar to the
aircraft under design are compared and analysed to finalize ideal design parameters for our
aircraft. Aerofoils and other essential components of aircraft design are followed. The project
report is concluded with detailed performance graphs and the aircraft's 3 view diagram. The
aircraft allows for long range transport with better efficiency and reduced fuel consumption
and noise levels owing to a state-of-the-art engine and design futures.
Keywords: commercial passenger, performance, design parameters, noise level, Structural
loads.

ii
A.R. List of Symbols
b - Aspect Ratio
C - Wing Span (m)
C root - Chord of the Aerofoil (m)
C tip - Chord at Root (m)
C - Chord at Tip (m)
Cd - Mean Aerodynamic Chord (m)
Cd,0 - Drag Co-efficient
Cp - Zero Lift Drag Co-efficient
CL - Specific fuel consumption (lbs/hp/hr)
D - Lift Co-efficient
E - Drag (N)
e - Endurance (hr)
L - Oswald efficiency
(L/D)loiter - Lift (N)
(L/D)cruise - Lift-to-drag ratio at loiter
M - Lift-to-drag ratio at cruise
Mff - Mach number of aircraft
R - Mission fuel fraction
Re - Range (km)
S - Reynolds Number
T - Wing Area (m²)
Vcruise - Thrust (N)
Vstall - Velocity at cruise (m/s)
Vt - Velocity at stall (m/s)
Wcrew - Velocity at touch down (m/s)
Wempty - Crew weight (kg)
- Empty weight of aircraft (kg)

Wfuel - Weight of fuel (kg)

Wpayload - Payload of aircraft (kg)
W0 - Overall weight of aircraft (kg)
W/S - Wing loading (kg/m²)
Astringer - Cross sectional area of stringers
A - Total cross sectional area
A spar - Cross sectional area of spar
At - Slope of the CL vs. α curve for a horizontal tail
A - Distance of the front spar to the nose
Bw - Width of the web
bf - Width of the flange
Ixx - Second moment of area about X axis
Izz - Second moment of area about Z axis
K - Gust alleviation factor
N max - Maximum load factor
tw - Thickness of the web
tf - Thickness of the flange
T - Torque
U - Gust velocity
Vcruise - Cruise velocity
Vs - Stalling velocity
vi
 List of Tables

TABLE NO. NAME of TABLE PAGE NO.

1.1 Parameters Taken from ADP 1 7

2.1 V-n Values 5

6.1 Linear Lift Distribution 14

6.2 Elliptical Lift Distribution 15

6.3 Schrenk’s Curve 16

6.4 Self weight distribution 18

6.5 Fuel weight Distribution 20

6.6 Overall load distribution 21

6.7 Area & Centroid of Curves 22

6.8 Shear Force 23

6.9 Bending Moment 24

11.1 Yield Strength & Ultimate Strength of Different Aluminium Alloys 25

11.2 Final Parameters 38

List of Figures

FIG. NO. NAME OF FIGURE PAGE NO,

2.1 V-n Manoeuvre Diagram According to FAR 25 7

2.2 V-n Manoeuvre Diagram 8

5.1 Structural Details of Aircraft 12

6.1 Linear Lift Distribution Graph 14

6.2 Elliptical Lift Distribution Graph 15

6.3 Schenk’s Curve Graph 16

6.4 Self-Weight Distribution Graph 17

6.5 Fuel Weight Distribution graph 18

6.6 Overall Load Distribution Graph 20

6.7 Shear Force Diagram 22

6.8 Bending Moment Diagram 23

9.1 Aircraft Wing Structure 27

vii
 1. INTRODUCTION
Modern aircraft are a complex combination of aerodynamics performance, lightweight
durable structures, and advanced systems engineering. Air passengers demand more comfort
and more environmentally friendly aircraft. Hence many technical challenges need to be
balanced for an aircraft to economically achieve its design specification. Aircraft design is a
complex and laborious undertaking with a few factors and details that are required to be
checked to obtain optimum the final envisioned product.
The design process begins from scratch and involves a number of calculations, logistic
planning, design and real-worlds considerations, logistic head to meet any hurdle head on.
Every airplane goes through many changes in design before it is finally built in a factory. These
steps between first ideas for an airplane and the time when it is flown make up the design
process. Along the way, engineers think about four main areas of aeronautics there are
aerodynamics, propulsions, structures and materials and stability and control.
Types of aircraft

• Narrow body aircraft

The most common airliners are the narrow-body aircraft, or single-aisles. The
earliest jet airliner were narrowbodies: the initial de Havilland Comet, the Boeing707 and
its competitor the Douglas DC-8. Currently produced narrow-body airliners include the
Airbus A220 and A320 family, Boeing 737 and Embraer E-Jet family, generally used for
medium- haul flights.

• Wide body aircraft

The larger wide-body aircraft, or twin-aisle as they have two separate aisles in the
cabin, are used for long-haul flights. The first was the Boeing 747 quad jet, followed by the
trijets: the Lockheed L-1011 and the Douglass DC-10, then its MD-11 stretch. Other quad
jets were introduced: the Ilyushin Il-86 and Il-96, the Airbus A340 and the double-deck
A380. Twinjets were also put into service: the Airbus A300/A310, A330 and A350; the
767, 777 and 787 240 passengers.

• Regional aircraft
Regional airliners seat fewer than 100 passengers. These smaller aircraft are often
used to feed traffic at large airline hubs to large aircraft operated by the major mainline
carriers, legacy carriers, or flag carriers; often sharing the same livery.
Regional jets include the Bombardier CRJ100/200 and Bombardier CEJ700 series,
or the Embraer ERJ family. Currently produced turboprop regional airliners include the
Dash-8 series.
What is an Airlift?
An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via aircraft.
Airlifting consists of two distinct types, strategic and tactical airlifting. Typically, strategic
airlifting involves moving material long distances (such as across or off the continent or

1
theatre), whereas a tactical airlift focuses on deploying resources and material into a specific
location with high precision.
Depending on the situation, airlifted supplies can be delivered by a variety of means.
When the destination and surrounding airspace is considered secure, the aircraft will land at an
appropriate airport or airbase to have its cargo unloaded on the ground. When landing the craft,
or distributing the supplies to a certain area from a landing zone by surface transportation is not
an option, the cargo aircraft can drop them in mid-flight using parachutes attached to the supply
containers in question. When there is a broad area available where the intended receivers have
control without fear of the enemy interfering with collection and/or stealing the goods, the
planes can maintain a normal flight altitude and simply drop the supplies down and let them
parachute to the ground. However, when the area is too small for this method, as with an
isolated base, and/or is too dangerous to land in, a Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System
drop is used.

CLASSIFICATION OF AIRLIFTS

 STRATEGIC AIRLIFT
 TACTICAL AIRLIFT

STRATEGIC AIRLIFT
Strategic airlift is the use of cargo aircraft to transport materiel, weaponry, or personnel
over long distances. Typically, this involves airlifting the required items between two airbases
which are not in the same vicinity. This allows commanders to bring items into a combat theatre
from a point on the other side of the planet, if necessary. Aircraft which perform this role are
considered strategic airlifters. This contrasts with tactical airlifters, such as the C-130
Hercules, which can normally only move supplies within a given theatre of operations.
EXAMPLE: Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, Antonov An-124.

TACTICAL AIRLIFT
Tactical airlift is a military term for the airborne transportation of supplies and
equipment within a theatre of operations (in contrast to strategic airlift). Aircraft which perform
this role are referred to as tactical airlifters. These are typically turboprop aircraft, and feature
short landing and take-off distances and low-pressure tires allowing operations from small or
poorly-prepared airstrips. While they lack the speed and range of strategic airlifters (which are
typically jet-powered), these capabilities are invaluable within war zones. Larger helicopters
such as the CH-47 Chinook and Mil Mi-26 can also be used to airlift men and equipment.
Helicopters have the advantage that they do not require a landing strip and that equipment can
often be suspended below the aircraft allowing it to be delivered without landing but are highly
inefficient. Tactical airlift aircraft are designed to be manoeuvrable, allowing low-altitude flight
to avoid detection by radar and for the airdropping of supplies. Most are fitted with defensive
aids systems to protect them from attack by surface-to-air missiles.
EXAMPLE: Hercules C-130, Lockheed C-141 Star lifter.

DESIGN OF AN AIRPLANE

2
 Airplane design is both an art and a science. It’s the intellectual engineering process of
creating on paper (or on a computer screen) a flying machine to
 Meet certain specifications and requirements established by potential users (or as
perceived by the manufacturer) and
 Pioneer innovative, new ideas and technology.
The design process is indeed an intellectual activity that is rather specified one that is
tempered by good intuition developed via by attention paid to successful airplane designs that
have been used in the past, and by (generally proprietary) design procedure and databases (hand
books etc.) that are a part of every airplane manufacturer.
PHASES OF AIRPLANE DESIGN
The complete design process has gone through three distinct phases that are carried out in
sequence. They are
 Conceptual design.
 Preliminary design.
 Detailed design.
 CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
The design process starts with a set of specifications (requirements)for a new
airplane, or much less frequently as the response to the desire to implement some
pioneering, innovative new ideas and technology. In either case, there is a rather
concrete good towards which the designers are aiming. The first steps towards
achieving that goal constitute the conceptual design phase. Here, within a certain
somewhat fuzzy latitude, the overall shape, size, weight and performance of the new
design are determined.
The product of the conceptual design phase is a layout on a paper or on a computer
screen) of the airplane configuration. But one has to visualize this drawing as one with
flexible lines, capable of being slightly changed during the preliminary design phase.
However, the conceptual design phase determines such fundamental aspects as the
shape of the wings (swept back, swept forward or straight), the location of the wings
related to the fuselage, the shape and location of the horizontal and vertical tail, the use
of an engine size and placement etc., the major drivers during the conceptual design
process are aerodynamics, propulsion and flight performance.
Structural and context system considerations are not dealt with in any detail.
However, they are not totally absent. During the conceptual design phase the designer
is influenced by such qualitative as the increased structural loads imposed by a high
horizontal tail location trough the fuselage and the difficulties associated with cut-outs
in the wing structure if the landing gear are to be retracted into the wing rather than the
fuselage or engine nacelle. No part of the design is ever carried out in a total vacuum
unrelated to the other parts.
 PRELIMINARY DESIGN
In the preliminary design phase, only minor changes are made to the configuration
layout (indeed, if major changes were demanded during this phase, the conceptual

3
 design process have been actually flawed to begin with. It is in the preliminary design
phase that serious structural and control system analysis and design take place. During
this phase also, substantial wind tunnel testing will be carried out and major
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations of the computer flow fluid over the
airplane configurations are done.

It’s possible that the wind tunnel tests the CFD calculations will in cover some
undesirable aerodynamic interference or some unexpected stability problems which
will promote change to the configuration layout. At the end of preliminary design phase
the airplane configuration is frozen and preciously defined. The drawing process called
lofting is carried out which mathematically models the precise shape of the outside skin
of the airplane making certain that all sections of the aircraft property fit together.
The end of the preliminary design phase brings a major concept to commit the
manufacture of the airplane or not. The importance of this decision point for modern
aircraft manufacturers cannot be understated, considering the tremendous costs
involved in the design and manufacture of a new airplane.
 DETAIL DESIGN
The detail design phase is literally the nuts and bolts phase of airplane design. The
aerodynamic, propulsion, structures performance and flight control analysis have all
been finished with the preliminary design phase. The airplane is now simply a machine
to be fabricated. The pressure design of each individual rib, spar and section of skin
now take place. The size of number and location of fastness are determined. At this
stage, flight simulators for the airplane are developed. And these are just a few of the
many detailed requirements during the detail design phase. At the end of this phase, the
aircraft is ready to be fabricated.
OUTLINE AIRCRAFT DESIGN PROJECT 2:
The structural design of the aircraft which is done in aircraft design project 2 involves:
 Determination of loads acting on aircraft  V-n diagram for the design study.
 Gust and manoeuvrability envelopes.
 Schenk’s Curve.
 Critical loading performance and final V-n graph calculation.
 Determination of loads acting on individual structures  Structural design study –
Theory approach.
 Load estimation of wings.
 Load estimation of fuselage.
 Material Selection for structural members.
 Detailed structural layouts.
 Design of some components of wings, fuselage.
Table 1.1: Parameters Taken from ADP 1

PARAMETERS VALUES

4
 Crew 4

Length 40m

Height 11m

Wing span 36m

Wing Area 150 m2

Aspect Ratio 6.023

Empty Weight 40,000 kg

MAX. Take-Off Weight 3,00,000 kg

Service Ceiling 11,800 m

Range 4000 km

Rate of Climb 14 m/s

Wing Loading 588 kg/m^2

Payload 20,000 kg

Type of Engine IAE V2500

No. of Engine 2

Total Thrust 90 Kn

Engine weight 23148*4 kg

Fuel weight 164280kg

Root chord 5.1 m

Tip chord 1.73 m

Mean aerodynamic chord 5.970 m

lift coefficient 0.169

2. V-n Diagram

Introduction:

Airplanes may be subjected to a variety of loading conditions in flight. The structural

design of the aircraft involves the estimation of the various loads on the aircraft structure and
designing the airframe to carry all these loads, providing enough safety factors, considering the
fact that the aircraft under design is a commercial transport airplane. As it is obviously

5
impossible to investigate every loading condition that the aircraft may encounter, it becomes
necessary to select a few conditions such that each one of these conditions will be critical for
some structural member of the airplane.
Velocity –Load Factor (V-n) diagram:
The control of weight in aircraft design is of extreme importance. Increases in weight
require stronger structures to support them, which in turn lead to further increases in weight
and so on. Excess of structural weight mean lesser amounts of payload, thereby affecting the
economic viability of the aircraft. The aircraft designer is therefore constantly seeking to pare
his aircraft’s weight to the minimum compatible with safety. However, to ensure general
minimum standards of strength and safety, airworthiness regulations (Av.P.970 and BCAR) lay
down several factors which the primary structure of the aircraft must satisfy. These are the
Limit load: Which is the maximum load that the aircraft is expected to experience in normal
operation.
Proof load: Which is the product of the limit load and the proof factor (1.0-1.25), and
Ultimate load: Which is the 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.
The basic strength and fight performance limits for a particular aircraft are selected by
the airworthiness authorities and are contained in the flight envelope or V-n diagram.
There are two types of V – n diagram for military airplanes:
 V–n manoeuvre diagram. 
V–n gust diagram.
The positive design limit load factor must be selected by the designer, but must meet
the following condition:
The maximum positive limit load factor for military transport aircraft should be in the
range 2 to 3. So for our aircraft we take The maximum negative limit load factor is given by
There are four important speeds used in the V – n diagram

 1 – g stall speed VS
 Design manoeuvring speed VA
 Design cruise speed VC
 Design diving speed VD

V – n MANEUVER DIAGRAM:

6
 Fig 2.1 V-n Manoeuvre Diagram According to FAR 25.

Design Cruise speed VC:

From Aircraft Design Project 1,
VC = Vcruise VC
= 255 m/s

Design Diving Speed VD:

The design diving speed must satisfy the following relationship 255 m/s.
Table 2.1: V-n Values

Velocity m/s Positive Load Factor n

0 0
99.01 1
240 3.8
360 3.8
360 -1
240 -1
99.01 -1

7
 V-n
5
Diagram

0 50 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
-1

-2

Fig 2.2 V-n Manoeuvre Diagram

8
 3. GUST V-n DIAGRAM

Description:

Gust is a sudden, brief increase in the speed of the wind. Generally, winds are least
gusty over large water surfaces and most gusty over rough land and near high buildings. With
respect to aircraft turbulence, a sharp change in wind speed relative to the aircraft; a sudden
increase in airspeed due to fluctuations in the airflow, resulting in increased structural stresses
upon the aircraft. Sharp-edged gust (u) is a wind gust that results in an instantaneous change in
direction or speed.
Derived gust velocity (Ug or Umax) is the maximum velocity of a sharp-edged gust that would
produce a given acceleration on a particular airplane flown in level flight at the design cruising
speed of the aircraft and at a given air density. As a result, a 25% increase is seen in lift for a
longitudinally disturbing gust.
The effect of turbulence gust is to produce a short time change in the effective angle of
attack. These changes produce a variation in lift and thereby load factor. For VB, a gust velocity
of 20.1168 m/s is assumed. For VC, a gust velocity of 15.24 m/s at sea level is assumed. For
VD, a gust velocity of 7.26 m/s is assumed.
Effective gust velocity: The vertical component of the velocity of a sharp-edged gust that
would produce a given acceleration on a particular airplane flown in level flight at the design
cruising speed of the aircraft and at a given air density.
Construction of gust load factor lines:
The gust load factor lines are defined by the following equations where,
Gust alleviation factor
Derived gust velocity
Design speed for maximum gust intensity
Design cruise velocity
Design diving velocity
Overall lift curve slope rad-1
Construction of gust load factor line for speed ⁄ (take)
Construction of gust load factor line for speed ⁄ (take)

Construction of gust load factor line for speed ⁄ (take)

4. CRITICAL LOADING PERFORMANCE

AND FINAL V-n DIAGRAM
CRITICAL LOADING PERFORANCE:

9
 The greatest air loads on an aircraft usually comes from the generation of lift during
high-g maneuvers. Even the fuselage is almost always structurally sized by the lift of the wings
rather than by the pressures produced directly on the fuselage. Aircraft load factor (n) expresses
the manoeuvring of an aircraft as a standard acceleration due to gravity.
At lower speeds the highest load factor of an aircraft may experience is limited by the
maximum lift available. At higher speeds the maximum load factor is limited to some arbitrary
value based upon the expected use of the aircraft. The maximum lift load factor equals 1.0 at
levels flight stall speed. This is the slowest speed at which the maximum load can be reached
without stalling.
The aircraft maximum speed, or dive speed at right of the V-n diagram represents the
maximum dynamic pressure and maximum load factor is clearly important for structural sizing.
At this condition, the aircraft is at fairly low angle of attack because of the high dynamic
pressure, so the load is approximately vertical in the body axis. The most common maneuvers
that we focused are,
 Level turn.  Pull up.
 Pull down.

5. STRUCTURAL DESIGN STUDY –THEORY APPROACH

Theory Approach:

Aircraft loads are those forces and loadings applied to the airplanes structural
components to establish the strength level of the complete airplane. These loadings may be
caused by air pressure, inertia forces, or ground reactions during landing. In more specialized
cases, design loadings may be imposed during other operations such as catapulted take-offs,
arrested landings, or landings in water.
The determination of design loads involves a study of the air pressures and inertia forces
during certain prescribed maneuvers, either in the air or on the ground. Since the primary
objective is an airplane with a satisfactory strength level, the means by which this result is
obtained is sometimes unimportant. Some of the prescribed maneuvers are therefore arbitrary
and empirical which is indicated by a careful examination of some of the criteria.
Important consideration in determining the extent of the load analysis is the amount of
structural weight involved. A fairly detailed analysis may be necessary when computing
operating loads on such items as movable surfaces, doors, landing gears, etc. proper operation
of the system requires an accurate prediction of the loads.
Aircraft loads is the science of determining the loads that an aircraft structure must be
designed to withstand. A large part of the forces that make up design loads are the forces
resulting from the flow of air about the airplane’s surfaces-the same forces that enable flight
and control of the aircraft.
Load factors:

10
 In normal straight and level flight the wing lift supports the weight of the airplane.
During maneuvers or flight through turbulent (gusty) air, however, additional loads are imposed
which will increase or decrease the net loads on the airplane structure. The amount of additional
loads depends on the severity of the manoeuvres or the turbulence, and its magnitude is
measured in terms of load factor.
The maximum maneuvering load factor to which an airplane is designed depends on its
intended usage. Fighters, which are expected to execute violent maneuvers, are designed to
withstand loads commensurate with the accelerations a pilot can physically withstand. Long
range, heavily loaded bombers, on the other hand, are designed to low load factors and must be
handled accordingly. For a typical two spar layout, the ribs are usually formed in three parts
from sheet metal by the use of presses and dies. Flanges are incorporated around the edges so
that they can be riveted to the skin and the spar webs Cut-outs 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 allow for passage of control runs fuel electrics etc.

fig 5.1 Structural Details of Aircraft

STRUCTURAL DESIGN CRITERIA

The structural criteria define the types of maneuvers, speed, useful loads, and gross
weights which are to be considered for structural design analysis. These are items which are
under the control of the airplane operator. In addition, the structural criteria must consider such
items as inadvertent maneuvers, effects of turbulent air, and severity of ground contact during

11
 landing. The basic structural design criteria, from which the loadings are determined, are based
largely on the type of the airplane and its intended use.

6. LOAD ESTIMATION ON WINGS

Description:

The solution methods which follow Euler’s beam bending theory (σ/y=M/I=E/R) use
the bending moment values to determine the stresses developed at a particular section of the
beam due to the combination of aerodynamic and structural loads in the transverse direction.
Most engineering solution methods for structural mechanic’s problems (both exact and
approximate methods) use the shear force and bending moment equations to determine the
deflection and slope at a particular section of the beam. Therefore, these equations are to be
obtained as analytical expressions in terms of span wise location. The bending moment
produced here is about the longitudinal (x) axis.
Loads acting on wing:
As both the wings are symmetric, let us consider the starboard wing at first. There are
three primary loads acting on a wing structure in transverse direction which can cause
considerable shear forces and bending moments on it. They are as follows:

 Lift force (given by Schenk’s curve)

 Self-weight of the wing
 Weight of the power plant
 Weight of the fuel in the wing
Shear force and bending moment diagrams due to loads along transverse direction at
cruise condition
Lift varies along the wing span due to the variation in chord length, angle of attack and
sweep along the span. Schenk’s curve defines this lift distribution over the wing span of an
aircraft, also called simply as Lift Distribution Curve

Y= Y1+ Y2
Where, Y1 is Linear Variation of lift along semi wing span also named as L1
Y2 is Elliptic Lift Distribution along the wing span also named as L2

Linear lift distribution (trapezium):

Lift at root= ½*ρ*v^2*Croot*Cl
=1/2*1.225**2552*4.857*0.168
Lroot=32498.53913N/m
Lift at tip= ½*ρ*v^2*Ctip*Cl
= ½*1.225*2552 *0.168*1.94 =13000.7538N/m
By representing this lift at sections of root and tip we can get the equation for the wing.

12
Equation of linear lift distribution for starboard wing y1
= -541.6051*(x)+16249.269562

Equation of linear lift distribution for port wing we have to replace x by –x in general,

13
y1 = 541.6051*(x)-16249.269562

14
15
16
For the Schenk’s curve we only consider half of the linear distribution of lift and hence
y1/2= Y1 y1 = -275.8025*(x)+8124.634781

Table 6.1 : linear lift

distribution Span Lift
0 16429.27

1 15887.664

2 15346.059

3 14804.454

4 14262.849

5 13721.244

6 13179.639

7 12638.034

8 12096.429

9 11554.824

10 11013.219

11 10471.613

12 9930.0084

13 9388.4033

14 8846.7982

15 8305.1931

16 7763.588

17 7221.9829

18 6680.3778

17
 Linear lift graph

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Fig 6.1: Linear Lift Distribution Graph Elliptic

Lift Distribution:

Twice the area under the curve or line will give the lift which will be required to overcome
weight
Considering an elliptic lift distribution, we get

y2= (b/a) (√(a2-x2))

Where, “b” is actual lift at root and “a” is wing semi span

Lift at tip= ½*ρ*v^2*Ctip*Cl

=1/2*1.225**2552*4.857*0.168
Lroot=32498.53913N/m

Equation of Elliptical Lift, y2= 1805.4743*√324-x2

For the Schrenk’s curve we only consider half of the linear distribution of lift and hence
y2/2 =Y2

y2=1805.4743*√324-x2

Table 6.2:Eliptical Lift Distribution

Span Lift
0 32498.536
1 32448.345
18
 2 32297.304
3 32043.988
4 31685.944
5 31219.567
6 30639.913
7 29940.402
8 29112.397
9 28144.557
10 27021.864
11 25724.048
12 24222.978
13 22477.973
14 20426.609
15 17964.241
16 14888.322
17 10681.329
18 0

Elliptical lift distribution

35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
0 5 10 15 20

Fig 6.2: Elliptical Lift Distribution Graph

Construction of Schrenk’s Curve:

Schrenk’s Curve is given by,

y=y1+y2
y= -541,6051*(x)+16249.26956+1805.4743*√324-x2
Substituting different values for x we can get the lift distribution for the wing semi span
Table 6.3: Schenk’s curve

Span Lift

19
 0 48927.805
1 48336.009
2 47643.364
3 46848.443
4 45948.793
5 44940.811
6 43819.552
7 42578.436
8 41208.825
9 39699.381
10 38035.082
11 36195.661
12 34152.987
13 31866.376
14 29273.407
15 26269.435
16 22651.91
17 17903.312
18 6680.3778

Schrenk's Curve
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
0 5 10 15 20

Fig 6.3: Schenk’s Curve Graph

20
Self-Weight of wing (y3):

Self-weight of the wing,

WWING= 7.5% 0f WTO

WWING= 73575N

Wportwing = -12375 N (Acting Downwards)

Wstarboard= - 12375N (Acting Downwards)
Assuming parabolic weight distribution,

y3= k(x-b2) where b – wing span

When we integrate from x=0 (root location) to x=b (tip location) we get the net weight of
port wing.
k= -23.1481

Table 6.4 : self weight distribution

Wing span Self weight
0 -3750
1 - 3344.886
2 -2962.944
3 -2604.15
4 -2268.504
5 -1956.006
6 -1666.656
7 -1400.454
8 -1157.4
9 -937.494
10 -740.736
11 -567.126
12 -416.664
13 -289.35
14 -185.184
15 -104.166
16 -46.296
17 -11.574
18 0

21
 SELF WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION
0
0 5 10 15 20
-500

-1000

-1500

-2000

-2500

-3000

-3500

-4000

Fig. 6.4: Self-Weight Distribution Graph Fuel

weight in the wing:

This design has fuel in the wing so we have to consider the weight of the fuel in one wing.

WFUEL= 25300 WSEMI

FUEL= 12650

VFUEL= CMEAN*h*tMEAN

h = 27.336m

Again by using general formula for straight line y= mx + c we get, y3=16.92x-12497.7

Table 6.5: fuel weight distribution

span fuel weight
0 -12193
0 -12497.72
1 -12480.8
2 -12463.88
3 -12446.96
4 -12430.04
5 -12413.12
6 -12396.2
7 -12379.28
8 -12362.36
9 -12345.44
10 -12328.52

22
 11 -12311.6
12 -12294.68
13 -12277.76
14 -12260.84
15 -12243.92
16 -12227
17 -12210.08
18 -12193.16

fuel weight
-12150
-12200 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

-12250
-12300
-12350
-12400
-12450
-12500
-12550

Fig. 6.5: Fuel Weight Distribution graph

Power plant weight:

Power plant is assumed to be a point load,

Wpp=2304 kg = 23575.1866 N
Acting at x= 18 m from the root.

Table 6.6: overall load distribution

Span linear lift Elliptical lift Self weight Fuel weight
0 16429.27 32498.54 -3749.98 -12497.7
1 15887.66 32448.34 -3344.89 -12480.8
2 15346.06 32297.3 -2962.94 -12463.9
3 14804.45 32043.99 -2604.15 -12447
4 14262.85 31685.94 -2268.5 -12430
5 13721.24 31219.57 -1956.01 -12413.1
6 13179.64 30639.91 -1666.66 -12396.2
7 12638.03 29940.4 -1400.45 -12379.3

23
 8 12096.43 29112.4 -1157.4 -12362.4
9 11554.82 28144.56 -937.494 -12345.4
10 11013.22 27021.86 -740.736 -12328.5
11 10471.61 25724.05 -567.126 -12311.6
12 9930.008 24222.98 -416.664 -12294.7
13 9388.403 22477.97 -289.35 -12277.8
14 8846.798 20426.61 -185.184 -12260.8
15 8305.193 17964.24 -104.166 -12243.9
16 7763.588 14888.32 -46.296 -12227
17 7221.983 10681.33 -11.574 -12210.1
18 6680.378 0 0 -12193.2

Overall load distribution

35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
-5000 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
-10000
-15000

self weight fuel weight linear lift eliptical

Fig. 6.6: Overall Load Distribution Graph

Loads simplified as point loads:

Table 6.7: Area & Centroid of Curves

Curve / Area enclosed / structural Centroid

Component weight (N) (from wing root)

Y1 20978.778 7.734 m

24
 Y2 612272.4956 7.643 m

(Y3)Wing 22499.8 4.5 m

(Yf)Fuel 2194476.7 8.9625 m

Power plant 23575.1866 4.5 m

Reaction force and Bending moment calculations:

The wing is fixed at one end and free at other end.
Then, VA-20798.778-612272.4956+22499.88+214976.7+ 23575.1866
=0 VA= -380990.207 N
Then, MA = (20798.778*7.734) + (612272.4956*7.643) - (22499.88*4.5) - (219476.7*8.9625) -
(23575.1866*4.5) - (586996.207)
MA =2666058.694 N/m

Now we know VA and MA, using this we can find out shear force and Bending moment.
SHEAR FORCE

Table 6.8: Shear Force

POINT X Shear Force(N)

B 18 26323815.28
C 13.5 11792885.5

D 9 11783661.6
E 6.75 11760086.4
F 4.5 11755155
A 0 -586996.207

25
 Shear force diagram
30000000
25000000
20000000
15000000
10000000
5000000
0
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
-5000000
Semi span

Fig. 6.7: Shear Force Diagram

BENDING MOMENT:
Table 6.9: Bending Moment

POINT X Bending Moment

B 18 0
C 13.5 169889.5
D 9 403801.2
E 6.75 442234.5
F 4.5 467154.3
A 0 467154.3

BENDING MOMENT
500000
450000
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

26
Fig. 6.8: Bending Moment Diagram

27
 7.LOAD ESTIMATION ON FUSELAGE
Load Estimation On Fuselage:
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 the equipments,
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 cut-outs in the
fuselage for access and inspection purposes. These cut-outs 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 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.
To find out the loads and their distribution, consider the different cases. The main
components of the fuselage loading diagram are:
 Weight of the fuselage.
 Engine weight.
 Weight of the horizontal and vertical stabilizers.
 Tail lift
 Weight of crew, payload and landing gear
 Systems, equipment, accessories
Symmetric flight condition, steady and level flight: (Downward forces negative) Values
for the different component weights are obtained from aerodynamic design calculations.

7. BALANCING AND MANEUVERING LOADS

ON TAIL PLANE, RUDDER
ANDAILERON LOADS

Manoeuvring loads:
Each horizontal surface and its supporting structure, and the main wing of a canard or
tandem wing configuration, if that surface has pitch control, must be designed for the
manoeuvring loads imposed by the following conditions:
 A sudden movement of the pitching control, at the speed VA, to the maximum aft
movement, and the maximum forward movement, as limited by the control stops, or
pilot effort, whichever is critical.
28
  A sudden aft movement of the pitching control at speeds above VA, followed by a
forward movement of the pitching control resulting in the following combinations of
normal and angular acceleration. At speeds up to VA, the vertical surfaces must be
designed to withstand the following conditions. In computing the loads, the yawing
velocity may be assumed to be zero.
 With the airplane in un accelerated flight at zero yaw, it is assumed that the rudder
control is suddenly displaced to the maximum deflection, as limited by the control stops
or by limit pilot forces.
 With the rudder deflected, it is assumed that the airplane yaws to the over swing sideslip
angle. In lieu of a rational analysis, an over swing angle equal to 1.5 times the static
sideslip angle may be assumed.
 A yaw angle of 15 degrees with the rudder control maintained in the neutral position
(except as limited by pilot strength).
 The airplane must be yawed to the largest attainable steady state sideslip angle, with
the rudder at maximum deflection caused by any one of the following:
 Control surface stops.
 Maximum available booster effort.
 Maximum pilot rudder force.
 The rudder must be suddenly displaced from the maximum deflection to
the neutral position.
 The yaw angles may be reduced if the yaw angle chosen for a particular
speed cannot be exceeded in:
 Steady slip conditions
 Uncoordinated rolls from steep banks or
 Sudden failure of the critical engine with delayed corrective action.
The ailerons must be designed for the loads to which they are subjected:
 In the neutral position during symmetrical flight conditions; and
 By the following deflections (except as limited by pilot effort), during
unsymmetrical flight conditions
 Sudden maximum displacement of the aileron control at VA. Suitable
allowance may be made for control system deflections.
 Sufficient deflection at VC, where VC is more than VA, to produce a
rate of roll not less than obtained
 Sufficient deflection at VC to produce a rate of roll not less than one-
third of that obtained

(a). Symmetric manoeuvring conditions:

Where sudden displacement of a control is specified, the assumed rate of control surface
displacement may not be less than the rate that could be applied by the pilot through the control
system. In determining elevator angles and chord wise load distribution in the manoeuvring
conditions, the effect of corresponding pitching velocities must be taken into account. The in-
trim and out-of-trim flight conditions must be considered.

(b). Manoeuvring balanced conditions:

29
 Assuming the airplane to be in equilibrium with zero pitching acceleration, the
manoeuvring conditions on the manoeuvring envelope must be investigated. (c)Pitch
manoeuvre conditions:

(C). Pitch Manoeuvre Conditions:

The movement of the pitch control surfaces may be adjusted to take into account
limitations imposed by the maximum pilot effort, control system stops and any indirect effect
imposed by limitations in the output side of the control system (for example, stalling torque or
maximum rate obtainable by a power control system.

Maximum pitch control displacement at VA:

The airplane is assumed to be flying in steady level flight and the cockpit pitch control
is suddenly moved to obtain extreme nose up pitching acceleration. In defining the tail load,
the response of the airplane must be taken into account. Airplane loads that occur subsequent
to the time when normal acceleration at the e.g. exceeds the positive limit manoeuvring load or
the resulting tail plane normal load reaches its maximum, whichever occurs first, need not be
considered.

Specified control displacement:

A checked manoeuvre, based on a rational pitching control motion vs. time profile, must
be established in which the design limit load factor will not be exceeded. Unless lesser values
cannot be exceeded, the airplane response must result in pitching accelerations not less than the
following:
 A positive pitching acceleration (nose up) is assumed to be reached concurrently
with the airplane load factor of 1.0. The positive acceleration must be equal to
at least 39n(n-1)/v, (rad/sec)
Where “n‟ is the positive load factor at the speed under consideration; and V is the
airplane equivalent speed in knots.
 A negative pitching acceleration (nose down) is assumed to be reached on
currently with the positive manoeuvring load factor. This negative pitching
acceleration must be equal to at least -26n(n-1)/v, (rad/sec)

Where “n‟ is the positive load factor at the speed under consideration; and V is the
airplane equivalent speed in knots.

Balancing loads:
 A horizontal surface balancing load is a load necessary to maintain equilibrium
in any specified flight condition with no pitching acceleration.
 Horizontal balancing surfaces must be designed for the balancing loads
occurring at any point on the limit manoeuvring envelope and in the flap
conditions
 It is not required to balance the rudder because it will not deflect due to gravity.
 Aileron will defect in vice versa direction so it is doesn’t require balancing
load.

30
 8. DETAILED STRUCTURAL LAYOUTS
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 fulfil these specific roles, a wing layout will conventionally compromise:
 Span wise members (known as spars or booms).
 Chord wise members(ribs).
 A covering skin.  Stringers

31
 fig
9.1: Aircraft Wing Structure

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.
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.

32
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 have located at the maximum thickness
position of the aerofoil section (typically between 30% & 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.
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:

33
 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 being 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
cut-outs in the fuselage for access and inspection purposes. These cut-outs 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 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

34
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 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.

35
 9. DESIGN OF SOME COMPONENTS OF WING AND FUSELAGE
Design of wing component spar:
Wing is the major lift producing surface. Therefore, the analysis has to be very accurate.
The structural analysis of the wing by defining the primary load carrying member Spars is done
below.
Spars are members which are basically used to carry the bending and shear loads acting on
the wing during flight. There are two spars, one located at 15-20% of the chord known as the
front spar, the other located at 60-70% of the chord known as the rear spar. Some of the
functions of the spar include: They form the boundary to the fuel tank located in the wing.
 The spar flange takes up the bending loads whereas the web carries the shear loads. 
The rear spar provides a means of attaching the control surfaces on the wing.
Considering these functions, the locations of the front and rear spar are fixed at 0.17c and
0.65c respectively. The spar design for the wing root has been taken because the maximum
bending moment and shear force are at the root. It is assumed that the flanges take up all the
bending and the web takes all the shear effect. The maximum bending moment for high angle
of attack condition is Nm. The ratio in which the spars take up the bending moment is
Design of Fuselage Component Stringer
The circumference of the fuselage is 43.102 m. To find the area of one stringer, number
of stringers per quadrant is assumed to be 4. i.e. the total number of stringers in the fuselage is
16. The stringers are equally spaced around the circumference of the fuselage.
Stringer Spacing:
The stringers are symmetrically spaced on the fuselage with the spacing Stringer
area calculation:
The stress induced in each stringer is calculated with the area keeping constant in the
stress term. Then the maximum stress (i.e. one which has larger numerator) is equated with the
yield strength of the material. From this area of one stringer is calculated.

11. MATERIAL SELECTION

Description:

Aircraft structures are basically unidirectional. This means that one dimension, the
length, is much larger than the others - width or height. For example, the span of the wing and
tail spars is much longer than their width and depth; the ribs have a much larger chord length
than height and/or width; a whole wing has a span that is larger than its chords or thickness;
and the fuselage is much longer than it is wide or high. Even a propeller has a diameter much
larger than its blade width and thickness, etc. For this simple reason, a designer chooses to use
unidirectional material when designing for an efficient strength to weight structure.
Unidirectional materials are basically composed of thin, relatively flexible, long fibers
which are very strong in tension (like a thread, a rope, a stranded steel wire cable, etc.). An
aircraft structure is also very close to a symmetrical structure. Those mean the up and down
loads are almost equal to each other. The tail loads may be down or up depending on the pilot
36
raising or dipping the nose of the aircraft by pulling or pushing the pitch control; the rudder
may be deflected to the right as well as to the left (side loads on the fuselage). The gusts hitting
the wing may be positive or negative, giving the up or down loads which the occupant
experiences by being pushed down in the seat or hanging in the belt.
Because of these factors, the designer has to use a structural material that can withstand
both tension and compression. Unidirectional fibers may be excellent in tension, but due to
their small cross section, they have very little inertia (we will explain inertia another time) and
cannot take much compression. They will escape the load by bucking away. As in the
illustration, you cannot load a string, or wire, or chain in compression.
In order to make thin fibres strong in compression, they are "glued together" with some
kind of an "embedding". In this way we can take advantage of their tension strength and are no
longer penalized by their individual compression weakness because, as a whole, they become
compression resistant as they help each other to not buckle away. The embedding is usually a
lighter, softer "resin" holding the fibres together and enabling them to take the required
compression loads. This is a very good structural material.
Wood:
Historically, wood has been used as the first unidirectional structural raw material. They
have to be tall and straight and their wood must be strong and light. The dark bands (late wood)
contain many fibers, whereas the light bands (early wood) contain much more "resin". Thus the
wider the dark bands, the stronger and heavier the wood. If the dark bands are very narrow and
the light bands quite wide, the wood is light but not very strong. To get the most efficient
strength to weight ratio for wood we need a definite numbers of bands per inch. Some of our
aircraft structures are two-dimensional (length and width are large with respect to thickness).
Plywood is often used for such structures. Several thin boards (foils) are glued together so that
the fibers of the various layers cross over at different angles (usually 90 degrees today years
back you could get them at 30 and 45 degrees as well). Plywood makes excellent "shear webs"
if the designer knows how to use plywood efficiently. (We will learn the basis of stress analysis
sometime later).
Today good aircraft wood is very hard to come by. Instead of using one good board for
our spars, we have to use laminations because large pieces of wood are practically unavailable,
and we no longer can trust the wood quality. From an availability point of view, we simply
need a substitute for what nature has supplied us with until now.
Aluminium alloys:
So, since wood may not be as available as it was before, we look at another material
which is strong, light and easily available at a reasonable price (there's no point in discussing
Titanium - it's simply too expensive). Aluminium alloys are certainly one answer. We will
discuss the properties of those alloys which are used in light plane construction in more detail
later. For the time being we will look at aluminium as a construction material.
Extruded Aluminium Alloys:
Due to the manufacturing process for aluminium we get a unidirectional material quite
a bit stronger in the lengthwise direction than across. And even better, it is not only strong in
tension but also in compression. Comparing extrusions to wood, the tension and compression
characteristics are practically the same for aluminium alloys so that the linear stress analysis

37
applies. Wood, on the other hand, has a tensile strength about twice as great as its compression
strength; accordingly, special stress analysis methods must be used and a good understanding
of wood under stress is essential if stress concentrations are to be avoided!
Aluminium alloys, in thin sheets (.016 to .125 of an inch) provide an excellent two
dimensional material used extensively as shear webs - with or without stiffeners - and also as
tension/compression members when suitably formed (bent). It is worthwhile to remember that
aluminium is an artificial metal. There is no aluminium ore in nature. Aluminium is
manufactured by applying electric power to bauxite (aluminium oxide) to obtain the metal,
which is then mixed with various strength-giving additives. (In a later article, we will see which
additives are used, and why and how we can increase aluminium's strength by cold work
hardening or by tempering.) All the commonly used aluminium alloys are available from the
shelf of dealers. When requested with the purchase, you can obtain a "mill test report" that
guarantees the chemical and physical properties as tested to accepted specifications.
As a rule of thumb, aluminium is three times heavier, but also three times stronger than
wood. Steel is again three times heavier and stronger than aluminium.
Steel:
The next material to be considered for aircraft structure will thus be steel, which has the
same weight-to-strength ratio of wood or aluminium.
Apart from mild steel which is used for brackets needing little strength, we are mainly
using a chrome-molybdenum alloy called AISI 413ON or 4140. The common raw materials
available are tubes and sheet metal. Steel, due to its high density, is not used as shear webs like
aluminium sheets or plywood. Where we would need, say.100" plywood, a .032inch aluminium
sheet would be required, but only a .010 steel sheet would be required, which is just too thin to
handle with any hope of a nice finish. That is why a steel fuselage uses tubes also as diagonals
to carry the shear in compression or tension and the whole structure is then covered with fabric
(light weight) to give it the required aerodynamic shape or desired look. It must be noted that
this method involves two techniques: steel work and fabric covering.
Composite Materials:
The designer of composite aircraft simply uses fibers in the desired direction exactly
where and in the amount required. The fibers are embedded in resin to hold them in place and
provide the required support against buckling. Instead of plywood or sheet metal which allows
single curvature only, the composite designer uses cloth where the fibers are laid in two
directions. (the woven thread and weft) also embedded in resin. This has the advantage of
freedom of shape in double curvature as required by optimum aerodynamic shapes and for very
appealing look (importance of aesthetics).
Today's fibers (glass, nylon, Kevlar, carbon, whiskers or single crystal fibers of various
chemical compositions) are very strong, thus the structure becomes very light. The drawback
is very little stiffness. The structure needs stiffening which is achieved either by the usual
discreet stiffeners, -or more elegantly with a sandwich structure: two layers of thin uni- or bi-
directional fibers are held apart by a lightweight core (foam or "honeycomb"). This allows the
designer to achieve the required inertia or stiffness.
From an engineering standpoint, this method is very attractive and supported by many
authorities because it allows new developments which are required in case of war. But this
38
method also has its drawbacks for homebuilding: A mold is needed, and very strict quality
control is a must for the right amount of fibers and resin and for good adhesion between both
to prevent too "dry" or "wet" a structure. Also the curing of the resin is quite sensitive to
temperature, humidity and pressure. Finally, the resins are active chemicals which will not only
produce the well-known allergies but also the chemicals that attack our body (especially the
eyes and lungs) and they have the unfortunate property of being cumulatively damaging and
the result (in particular deterioration of the eye) shows up only years after initial contact.
Another disadvantage of the resins is their limited shelf life, i.e., if the resin is not used
within the specified time lapse after manufacturing, the results may be unsatisfactory and
unsafe.
Heavy Aircraft Raw Materials:
1. Magnesium: An expensive material. Castings are the only readily available forms.
Special precaution must be taken when machining magnesium because this metal burns
when hot.
2. Titanium: A very expensive material. Very tough material and difficult to machine.
3. Carbon Fibers: Still very expensive materials.
4. Kevlar Fibers: Very expensive and also critical to work with because it is hard to
"soak" in the resin.
A number of properties are important to the selection of materials for an aircraft structure.
The selection of the best material depends upon the application. Factors to be considered
include yield and ultimate strength, stiffness, density, fracture toughness, fatigue, crack
resistance, temperature limits, reducibility, repair ability, cost and availability. The gust loads,
landing impact and vibrations of the engine and propeller cause fatigue failure which is the
single most common cause of aircraft material failure.
For most aerospace materials, creep is a problem only at the elevated temperature.
However, some titanium plastics and composites will exhibit creep at room temperatures.
Taking all the above factors into considerations, the following aluminium alloys which have
excellent strength to weight ratio and are abundant in nature are considered.
Table 11.1: Yield Strength & Ultimate Strength of Different Aluminium Alloys

S.no Aluminium Alloy Yield Strength (MPa) Ultimate Strength(MPa)

1 Al 2021-T35 280 470

2 Al 2024-T3 276 427

3 Al 7075-T6 476 538

4 Al 7075-T651 462 538

5 Al 6061-0 55 112

6 Al 6064-T4 110 207

7 Al 6061-T6 241 290

39
8 Al 6082-T6 210 340

40
 Table 11.2: Final Parameters

Parameters Values

Span 70 m

Wing Area 549 m2

Aspect Ratio 8.92

Empty Weight 160,000 kg

Maximum Take-off Weight 3,59,331 kg

Root Chord 12.54 m

Tip Chord 3.135 m

Mean aerodynamic Chord 5.970m

Wing Loading 654 kg/m2

Cruise Speed 255 m/s

Max Speed 270 m/s

Type Of Engine Turbo fan

No of Engines 2

Power Deliverd By Motor 470.8 KN

Engine Weight 23054*2

Fuel Weight 74534 kg

Rate Of Climb 22 m/s

Range 4,500 km

Landing Distance 1,650 km

Take-off Distance 1,000 km

Lift Coefficient 0.2555

Max Shear Force 26323815.29 N

Maximum Bending Moment 467154.3 N-m

CONCLUSION
The preliminary and detail design of a passenger aircraft was completed with
performance parameters required for calculation. The obtained design values are not
necessarily a definite reflection of the airplane’s true and conceptualized design, but the basic
outlay of development has been obtained.

41
 The detailed design provides desired considerations of passenger aircraft. The required
ideal changes and improvements secured an optimum performance of an aircraft.
The challenges faced in the design project-II have various phases. The experience plays
a vital role in successful design of any aircraft in future. Future development can be
implemented for perfect aircraft design.

42
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Raymer, D.P, Aircraft Design - a Conceptual Approach, AIAA educational series
second edition 1992.
T.H.G.Megson , Aircraft Structures for engineering students, 4th Edition Elsevier Ltd USA
2007.
E.F.Bruhn , Analysis and design of flight vehicle structures,1st Edition, tri-state offset
company, USA,1973.
Michael Chun-Yung Niu, Airframe structural design, 2nd Edition, Hong Kong Conmilit
Press Ltd, Hong Kong, 2001.
Anderson, John D, Aircraft design and performance by Anderson, 3rd Edition, Tata Mc
Graw-Hill, New York, 2010.

42