ICASE 2019

Development of Matlab Based Software for Aircraft Structural

Analysis and Design

Shoaib Bilal Saad Anjum Dr. Abdul Munem Khan

Department of Aerospace Engineering Department of Aerospace Engineering Department of Aerospace Engineering
Institute of Space and Technology Institute of Space Technology Institute of Space and Technology
Islamabad, Pakistan Islamabad, Pakistan Islamabad, Pakistan
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract—as the world is progressing day by day use of should be developed which will help the students and
computers and other software’s are playing an important role professors in there learning, teaching and training purposes.
in every field of study and making complex things easy to Aircraft industries like Kamra, AWC in Pakistan are using
handle. Use of new advanced software’s has brought the the excel sheets to do the calculations of preliminary design
revolutionary change in the field of science and technology. of aircrafts and those sheets are rather complex and do not
Work related to aircraft structural preliminary analysis and offer much flexibility so this software tool is developed for
design is going on in various industries and universities over all the preliminary analysis and design calculations rather than
the world so it was needed to have software which will do the
going to the lengthy procedures thus reducing the workload
task of preliminary analysis and design of aircraft in few
and time.
minutes. The software will help students at different
educational institutions to learn concepts and develop insight
This AAD software is basically related to aircraft
related to aircraft structure analysis and design. Professors can structures. It is based on technique known as structural
use this software to solve the problems related to aircraft idealization. For the calculation of bending and shear stresses
structure with just few clicks. In the light of all these on the wings we have to do the lengthy calculations so all
requirements authors have developed AAD (Aero Structure these formulas have been integrated in this software to
Analysis and Design) software which will do the preliminary calculate these stresses. Matlab is used for this purpose
analysis and design calculations which are very helpful for the because this programming language is good in handling
industry and academic organizations. Software will idealize the these mathematical equations. In matlab we can easily create
structure to calculate the bending and shear stresses for given the graphical user interface in a very simple way which
loading. AAD software is able to do the design and analysis of would be very easy to understand for the users.
NACA 4 digit symmetrical and asymmetrical aerofoil as well as
the circular fuselage. Software also give ease to the user to
calculate the bending and shear stresses on his newly defined A. Selection of programming language
crossection. Programming language used is Matlab because of Matlab is used for coding to develop this software tool.
its ability to handle complex engineering problems and user In matlab we can easily test the algorithms. We type
friendly interface. something in the command line and see the results quickly so
this language greatly facilitates the algorithm development.
Keywords-component; Matlab software, Bending stresses,
Matlab desktop environment allow us to work interactively
Shear Stresses, Wing, Fuselage Analysis.
with our data so it help to keep track of files and simplifies
the common programming task. Major benefits of using
I. INTRODUCTION matlab is the user friendly graphical user interface and its
We are living in the computer Era and now companies ability to handle complex mathematical equations.
and research firms are using new concepts and software’s to
achieve there aims and goals. People feel it easy to use B. AAD Objectives
developed software’s which help solve their problems rather
than doing the complex calculation on pages again and Main purpose of using this software tool is to help the
again. It is needed that theoretical concepts should be people working in the aircraft industry in their preliminary
integrated into software. Software reduces the workload of design of aircraft. Aircraft industries would prefer this
the companies and universities and also save much of their software tool over the excel sheets for doing the calculations
time. Aim of this paper is to describe about the tool which because of its flexibility. In universities this software will
will be able to resolve all the issues discussed in the further help student and professors to solve the problems related to
topics. It was the need of the time that this kind of software aircraft structure and make analysis by seeing the results. It
is developed with as much user friendly interface as possible
so anyone can use this tool easily with little knowledge

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covering all the aspects. This software tool presents multiple

options to the user for structural analysis and design like skin
analysis, skin stringer analysis, quick analysis, detailed II. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF AAD
analysis etc. Users don’t need to worry about importing the Finite element method analysis is being used in Ansys
aircraft coordinates to make the NACA 4 digit airfoils. AAD and Nastran software to do the structural analysis of the
software tool display the result step wise along with aircraft. These software’s are being widely used by the
graphical demonstration of the results which would be very people working in the aircraft industries. These software’s
easy to comprehend. take too much time to do the complete detailed analysis.
Engineers and students using this software are unable to
C. AAD aplications
know the underlying concepts because of the complexities of
This software tool is developed with wide range of these software tools but AAD software tool can do the
applications. preliminary design analysis of the aircraft in few minutes and
 This software tool will be capable to do the analysis also this tool is based on the basic theories and formulas
of rectangular wings covering NACA four digit given in the books [1], [2].
symmetrical and unsymmetrical airfoils, circular
fuselage. III. WING ANALYSIS WITH SPARS AND STRINGERS
 It covers the airfoil modeling for the development
of wing. A. Wing Airfoil Modeling
 This software tool enables us to do the structural In this AAD software tool both the symmetrical and
idealization of the wing and finding the unsymmetrical airfoils are modeled for the rectangular wing
crossectional properties, centroid and location of aircraft. This software give ease to the user that we don’t
neutral axis. need to import the aircraft coordinates and the airfoil is
 This tool enables us to calculate the bending and developed. In symmetrical airfoil we just need to give the
shear stresses at any given crossection of the wing, thickness to chord ratio and the chord length while for
fuselage as well as the newly defined crossection. unsymmetrical type airfoil user also need to enter the
 User can see how stresses are affected by the maximum camber, location of maximum camber along with
application of spars and stringers on the wing skin. the thickness to chord ratio. Theoretical concepts and the
 AAD software provide option to the user to equations (1), (2) and (3) were considered from the book [5].
optimize the skin thickness, stringer area and spar Following equation were used to plot the airfoil in the AAD
location for wing and circular fuselage. software tool.
Equation for the symmetrical airfoil is given as:
D. Development streak of AAD
This software tool is developed by the following
sequence. Firstly basic concepts were made from the course

material [1], [2]. Then it is learned how to make the
graphical user interface and do the coding in the matlab  
software [3]. Theoretical concepts learned [1], [2], [4] are 
applied in matlab programming and graphical user interfaces Where t= thickness to chord ratio.
are developed. Finally after doing the complete coding In this formula last value is modified to be
standalone application is made so that it can work on any because we have the close trailing edge. Now formula
computer by downloading some files. Main interface of the considered to plot the asymmetrical airfoil is given as under:
software is shown in “fig.1”.
E. Considered Assumption
Some important assumptions were made before doing the (2)
calculation on AAD software tool. If someone has to use this
software then he should kept in mind these assumptions (3)
which are listed as follows.
 Direct stress is constant over the stringer Here in this equation
crossection. m= maximum ordinate of mean line expressed as a function
 Direct stresses are carried by the boom while the of chord.
skin is effective only in shear. P=chord wise position of maximum ordinate
 Crossection remain crossection after applying the
loads. (warping phenomenon is not considered) Asymmetrical airfoils are used on most of the aircraft
 Span of the wing do not change. because of the fact that these airfoils can generate the lift
 Material is considered as isotropic and homogenous even at the zero angle of attack.
and it obeys the hooks law.
 Load applied remain in the elastic limit.

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B. Idealization of aircraft wing structure Equation (8) will be used to calculate the bending stressses
We have idealized the wing panel into the direct stress and in case unsymmetrical airfoils equation (7) will serve
carrying booms and shear stress carrying skin. Structural the purpose. Then the position of neutral axis is calculated
analysis is greatly simplified using the technique of [1] using the formula;
idealization. Consider a straight panel as shown in “Fig.2”
having a thickness (t) and the length (b). This straight panel
is idealized into shear stress carrying skin and two direct (9)
stress carrying boom whose area will is calculated using the
formulas (4), (5) and (6) taken from the [2]. Neutral axis always passes through the centroid of the
crossection but its inclination depends on the geometrical
properties of the section and loadings applied. Our software
(4) tool AAD plot the neutral axis and then from the given
loading conditions calculate the bending and shear stresses at
(5) the required section.
E. Shear Stress Analysis
(6)
We have studied different method to calculate the shear
Boom areas are calculated in the analysis part neutral stresses out of which direct method is selected to calculate
axis position is determined and crossectional properties are the shear stresses. We don’t need to calculate the shear center
calculated. “Fig.3” shows the existing panel and the idealized for that method. Method used to calculate the shear stresses
panel. for the symmetrical and asymmetrical crossection is
consulted from the book [1] and the formula used is stated as
C. Stress Analysis under:
After doing the structural idealization stresses are
calculated at any section of the wing having symmetrical or
asymmetrical crossection. This AAD software tool will
calculate the bending and shear stresses any section of the (10)
wing or fuselage etc. using the equations given in [1].
1) Loading conditions: We have to apply the certain
loads then we will obtain the bending and shear stressses at
any crossection of the wing. We are not doing the
aerodynamic analysis at this stage. User will be given the (11)
option to input the value of conentrated lift and drag also
user will be asked to determine the section position along the
span where he need to calculate these stresses. Wing will be
treated as a cantilever beam. After giving these values in (12)
input user will be able to see the bending and shear stresses
at any section of the wing.
D. Bending Stress Analysis Equation (10) is used to calculate the shear stresses. For
In bending stress analysis part user give the input in the the symmetrical wings quantity become zero and the
form of concentrated lift and drag due to which a bending terms in the formula will be reduced. Direct method is used
moment is developed which leads to the bending stresses. to calculate the shear stresses in which firstly crossectional
Theoretical concepts were developed from the books [1], [2] properties and boom areas are calculated. After that cut is
formula used to calculate the bending stress for the made at any point and shear flow is assumed to be zero at
symmetrical and unsymmetrical airfoil is stated as under that point and preliminary shear flows are calculated using
the equation (10). Moment is taken along any lumped area in
the section which will give the value of shear flow at the skin
panel where the cut is made. Value of shear flow obtained is
(7) then added in all the preliminary shear flows to get the final
shear flows. Shear flow when divided by thickness gives the
final shear stress on the section of the wing. For multicellular
(8) crossection in order to calculate the shear stress we need the
additional equation which is formed by considering the rate
Bending stresses are calculated using this formula. In case of twist equation (11) taken from [1]. Equation (12) is used
to calculate the torsion taken from the [1] for the
of symmetrical airfoils where is considered to be zero

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multicellular section. These equations are solved shear stress varies with the skin thickness for unsymmetrical
simultaneously to get the final value of shear flow. airfoil as shown in “fig.8” User can get the idea about the
feasible value of skin thickness by noting the trend in the
IV. APPLICATION OF SPARS AND STRINGERS
graph.
In aircraft construction stringer is a thin strip of material
to which the skin of wing is fastened. Primary function of the 2) Stringer optimization: In order to proceed through the
stringers is to take the bending stresses and then transfer the
design of stringers user need to do the quick wing skin and
bending load acting on the wing to the ribs and spars of the
aircraft wing. First of all using the AAD software tool stringers analysis first in which all parameters needed by the
bending and shear stresses are calculated on the wing skin. software will be input and results will be shown in the next
Higher values of bending and shear stresses are obtained output window. In the design part user need to enter the
then user can use this AAD software to apply the stringers stringer numbers. AAD software changes the area of the
and spars on the wing skin and see the useful results. stringer numbers mentioned and calculate the bending the
After the application of stringers boom areas are shear stresses.Area of stringer is changes from zero the
calculated again, crossectional properties changes which maximum value by the software and bending shear stresses
result from the change of centroid and then bending shear are calculated again and again. Graph is plotted between the
stresses are calculated again at any section of the wing. Our maximum value of normal and shear stress verses the
developed AAD software tool will ask user about the stringer selected stringer area for the unsymmetrical airfoil as shown
location in term of boom no and the stringer area. When
in “fig.9”. It can be seen through the graph that as the
these values are given our software tool will calculate the
bending and shear stresses again with just a one click. User stringer area is increased from zero maximum normal stress
can easily analyze that after the application of stringers on began to decrease and after some time become almost
the wing skin bending stresses will be greatly reduced. After constant. If we see the case of shear stress then it is opposite
that user can apply the spars on the section and for that as the stringer area is increased maximum value of shear
purpose location and area of upper and lower flange as well stress decrease for a small interval and then began to
as web thickness needed to be entered in the input panel. increase and at the end become almost contact. So user can
Now the stresses will be calculated again by the AAD get the idea from the graph that how much area of stringer
software. After the application of spars shear stresses will be be changed so that bending stresses are greatly reduced and
reduced greatly. Bending stresses will also be reduced. shear stresses do not increase much. Basically area of
Values will be given in result portion discussed further.
stringer is optimized so that bending stresses are reduced
Shear stress on any boom no can be seen by entering the
value of that boom no. “Fig.6” and “Fig.7” shows the matlab significantly.
interface in which values are input for unsymmetrical airfoil 3) Spar optimization: Software requires the quick skin
and results are obtained in the next window. spar analysis first then it proceed towards the design. One
spar will be applied and ipnut parameters will be made in
the analysis part. In the design of wing skin spar analysis we
V. WING DESIGN WITH SPARS AND STRINGERS optimized the location of the spar. In the analysis part
AAD software is made to design the wing having location of spar its flange area and web thickness is stated
symmetrical or unsymmetrical airfoil section. now user will click on the show effect of spar location to see
1) Skin optimization: In order to proceed with the skin the results as shown in “fig.10” which is for unsymmetrical
design user need to do the quick wing skin analysis of the airfoil. First the position of spar is specified then AAD
aircraft in which all input of airfoil parameters, inputs for software changes the location of spar and calculate the
structure idealization and stress analysis are made in one bending and shear stress. Spars are placed at all location and
window and output is obtained in the next window. In the the variation of stresses are analyzed. Graph is plotted
design window user need to enter the factor of safety and between the spar location and maximum values of bending,
material. Properties of each material and its alloy is given in shear stresses. As the location of spar is changed from the
the database. Yield strength of material in tension and boom no 2 towards the end bending stress first decreases
compression is stated. If the maximum stresses obtained on reaches the minimum value and then keep on increasing
the given thickness is greater than the yield stress then the same trend is seen in the shear stress with the location of
AAD software keep on increasing the thickness and spar as shown in “fig.10”. From the graph user can get idea
calculate the stresses till it reach the value which is less than about the best position of spar where the bending and shear
the yield stress of the material. Moreover if the stresses stresses both are minimum in this way location of spar is
obtain with this thickness are very less than the yield optimized. Same designed procedure is followed for both
strength it will reduce the thickness and calculate the symmetrical and unsymmetrical airfoil.
stresses till it reaches near to the yield of the material. In this
way AAD software optimize the skin thickness of the wing.
Graph is plotted to see how maximum value of normal and

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VI. CIRCULAR FUSELAGE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN stringer area and web thickness will be given for other spars
and stringer along with specified location. Six stringers and
AAD software is programmed to do the analysis and design
two spars are applied on the wing skin. After the applications
of circular fuselage. First user need to input the radius,
of stringers and spars on the wing skin bending stresses will
thickness and no of booms then loads will be applied. AAD be greatly reduced. Results are shown in “fig.7”. Comparison
software will calculate the bending and shear stresses on the of results before and after applying the stringers and spars on
fuselage crossection after that stringers will be applied to the the unsymmetrical wing skin is given in table below.
skin of the fuselage due to which the bending stresses will
be greatly reduced. “Fig.4” and “Fig.5” shown the input and TABLE 2. WING RESULTS COMPARISON
the output window for the quick fuselage analysis. Now the
Stress Analysis
analysis part is complete in the design part thickness of the Parameters Stress Analysis Stress analysis with spars
fuselage section is optimized. User enter the factor of safety with stringers stringers
and select the material then the software after doing the Maximum
calculations gives the optimized thickness of the fuselage Normal 3.93991e+07 2.62417e+07 1.66197e+07
stress
section.
Minimum
Normal -3.90368e+07 -2.70205e+07 -1.61603e+07
VII. STRESSES ON NEWLY DEFINED CROSSECTION stress
AAD software give ease to the user to enter the coordinates Maximum
and define the new crossection shape. Once the shape is shear stress 5.30947e+06 5.34164e+06 2.47958e+06
defined next the loads will be applied and boom areas will Minimum
be given. After taking all the input parameters AAD shear stress 316393 265129 22930.7
software will calculate the bending and shear stresses on a
newly defined crossection. AAD software deals with the one
cell, two cell and three cell crossection. Same formulas will
be used as used in the wing analysis and design part to It can be analysed by the folowing results that the bending
calculate the bending and shear stresses. stresses on the wing skin are greatly reduced by the
application of spars and stringers.
VIII. RESULTS
B. Fuselage Analysis and Design
A. Symmetrical wing analysis and design In fuselage user need to define the crossection then enter the
Our AAD software tool calculate the bending and shear input parameters. After giving all the input AAD software
stresses on any section of the wings. User need to input some calculate the stresses, below is the table (3) showing the
values. In order to do the analysis and design of comparison of values after applying the stringers on the
unsymmetrical airfoil we enter the following values given in fuselage section.
the table (1).

TABLE 3. FUSELAGE RESULTS

TABLE 1. INPUT PARAMETRS FOR WING ANALYSIS
Parameters Stress Analysis Stress analysis
Input Parameters Values Input Values with stringers
Parameters Maximum
Normal 2.97041e+07 1.21485e+07
Chord length 1.2m Lift 4000N stress
Minimum
Maximum Camber 0.03m Drag 3000N Normal -2.97041e+07 -1.21485e+07
stress
Thickness chord ratio 0.12m Torsional 1000m Maximum
Moment shear stress 2.35477e+06 2.31937e+06

Max camber location 0.4m Stringer area 0.008m Minimum

shear stress 160648 75902.3
Half wing span 5m Flange area 0.008m
From the results it can be analyzed that the bending and
Skin thickness 0.002m Web 0.006m shear stresses are reduced significantly after the application
thickness of stringers on the fuselage section.

After giving the input values our AAD software tool will
calculate the bending and Shear stresses. Same flange area,

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IX. ORGANIZATION OF AAD analyze the structure then he should do the detailed analysis
in which our AAD software tool will proceed step wise.
Our AAD software tool is able to perform calculations and it
follows the following scheme. Main interface is shown in X. CONCLUSION
the “fig.1”.
In this paper we have presented our AAD software tool
A. Symmetrical Wing Analysis which is very helpful for the engineers to do the preliminary
o Quick wing skin analysis design calculations also it can be used by university students
o Quick wing skin stringer analysis to do the structural analyses and analyses. AAD software
o Quick wing skin spar analysis Calculate the bending and shear stresses on the whole wing
o Quick complete wing analysis structure then the spars and stringers are applied due to
o Detailed skin analysis which bending and shear stresses are reduced because the
o Detailed skin stringer analysis load is being carried by the spars and the stringers. Value of
o Detailed skin spar analysis maximum and minimum normal stress is also reduced.
o Detailedcompelte wing analysis Bending stresses are greatly affected by the application of
spars and stringers. In the design module skin is optimized
for symmetrical, unsymmetrical airfoil and fuselage section.
B. Asymmetrical Wing analysis Area of stringer and location of spars is optimized for both
o Quick wing skin analysis the wing and the fuselage. Graphs were obtain which gives
o Quick wing skin stringer analysis the valuable information. In the later part bending, shear
o Quick wing skin spar analysis stresses were calculated on a newly defined crossection.
o Quick complete wing analysis GUIs have been developed to handle the large amount of
o Detailed skin analysis data in one window and also giving the outputs in another
o Detailed skin stringer analysis window. The interface developed is really simple and user
o Detailed skin spar analysis friendly. Coding is done on Matlab because it is good in
o Detailed complete wing analysis handling the complex mathematical equations and problems.
We have not given the figures of complete features of AAD
C. Symmetrical wing design software in this paper due to limitation of space. Code
o Skin optimization written is verified by solving the problem of the books [1],
[2] and matching the results. This software is just the start of
o Stringer optimization
the structural analysis of the aircraft it can further be
o Spar optimization modified to include other parameters so it will have vast
D. Asymmetrical Wing Design applications.
o Skin optimization
o Stringer optimization XI. REFERENCES
o Spar optimization
[1] “Aircarft Structure for Engineering Students” by T.H.G Megson
E. Fuselage Analyses
o Quick wing skin analysis [2] “Fundaments of Aircraft Structure Analysis” by Howard D. Curtis
o Quick wing skin stringer analysis
o Detailed skin analysis [3] Rivello, Robert M.,”Theory and analysis of Flight Structure”,
o Detailed skin stringer analysis McGraw-Hill,19

F. Fuselage Design [4] Design and Analysis of a Spar Beam For The Vertical Tail of A
o Skin design Transport Aircraft. (Vinod S. Muchchandi, S. C. Pilli)
o Skin stringer design
[5] Effect of Ribs and Stringer Spacing's on the Weight of Aircraft
G. Newly Defined Crossection Structure for Aluminum Material. (K.N. Arunkumar, N.
Lohith and B.B. Ganesha)
o One cell
o Two cell [6] Spars and Stringers- Function and Designing. (Ambri, Ramandeep
o Three cell Kaur)

In the quick wing analysis module user give all the input [7] Creating Graphical User Interfaces by Mathworks.
in one window and get the results in the other window
immediately. If user want to go step and step and want to

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Fig.1: Main Interface Window

Fig. 2: Idealization procedure

Fig. 3: Structure Idealization

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Fig .4: Fuselage Analysis

Fig .5: Fuselage results

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Fig .6: Unsymmetrical wing analysis input parameters

Fig .7: Wing analysis results
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Fig .8: Asymetrical stringer design

Fig.9: Asymmetrical spars design

Fig. 10: Asymmetrical wing design

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