UNIT III

AIRCRAFT MATERIALS & STRUCTURES

Materials
FRP: GFRP, Research
CFRP
Smart Skin,
SHM
Parts

Radome,
fuselage,
wings

designed by

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Engineering Materials?
 Material
Properties??
Engineering material Properties…..
 Strength

 Stiffness

 Density

 Corrosion resistance

 Toughness
 Strength is a ability of a material to withstand
an applied load without getting plastically
deformed or rupture, whereas Stiffness is the
degree to which an object resists its
deformation in applied load. stiffness is given
as Load per unit deflection.
 Corrosion resistance refers to how well a
substance (especially a metal) can withstand
damage caused by oxidization or other
chemical reactions.
What happens to engineering materials with time??

 Fatigue

 Corrosion

 Wear

 creep
 What are the GOALS when selecting
Aircraft Materials???

 Light weight  Less fuel consumption  Higher performance

 Damage tolerance

 Fatigue tolerance
Evolution of engineering materials
Advanced Composite Materials for Aircraft Structures

 Composite materials are becoming more important in the construction of aerospace

structures.
 Aircraft parts made from composite materials, such as fairings, spoilers, and flight
controls, were developed during the 1960s for their weight savings over aluminum parts.
 New generation large aircraft are designed with all composite fuselage and wing
structures, and the repair of these advanced composite materials requires an in-depth
knowledge of composite structures, materials, and tooling.
 The primary advantages of composite materials are their high strength, relatively low
weight, and corrosion resistance.
 (Laminated Structures)

A composite is a combination of two or more materials, that

results in a better properties than those of the individual
components used alone. The constituents retain their
identities i.e., they do not dissolve or merge completely into
one another, but can be physically identified and exhibit an
interface between one another.

Need for Composites: Composites Vs Metals

• To increase stiffness, strength and dimensional • Properties are not uniform in all
stability. direction
• To increase toughness and impact strength. • Strength and stiffness can be tailored to
• To increase heat deflection temperature. meet loads.
• To reduce the weight. • Possess greater variety of mechanical
• To maintain strength/stiffness at high properties.
temperature. • Greater resistance to fatigue damage.
Constituents of composites

Reinforcement Matrix
Need for Composites

Plastics
• Good Processability • Poor mechanical properties
• Low cost • Not suitable for load bearing applications
• Strength less than 50 MPa • E = few GPa

Synthetic fibers ( glass, Carbon)

Good mechanical properties;
E = around 70 GPa
Strength = around 3000 MPa.

A composite made with the glass fiber, say 50

vol%, and plastics can have good mechanical
properties. The modulus and strength values of
this composite will be more than 30 GPa and
1000 MPa, respectively.
Comparison between conventional and composite materials
Classification based on Reinforcement structure

Based on
Reinforcement
Applications of composites on aircraft include:

 Fairings
 Flight control surfaces
 Landing gear doors
 Leading and trailing edge panels on the wing and stabilizer
 Interior components
 Floor beams and floor boards
 Vertical and horizontal stabilizer primary structure on large aircraft
 Primary wing and fuselage structure on new generation large aircraft
 Turbine engine fan blades
 Propellers
Major Components of a Laminate

 Metals such as aluminum and titanium are examples of isotropic materials.

 Fiber is the primary load carrying element of the composite material. The composite
material is only strong and stiff in the direction of the fibers.
 Components made from fiber-reinforced composites can be designed so that the fiber
orientation produces optimum mechanical properties.
 A matrix supports the fibers and bonds them together in the composite material. The
matrix transfers any applied loads to the fibers, keeps the fibers in their position and
chosen orientation, gives the composite environmental resistance, and determines the
maximum service temperature of a composite.
Strength Characteristics
Structural properties, such as stiffness,
dimensional stability, and strength of a
composite laminate, depend on the stacking
sequence of the plies.

These types of ply orientation simulate the

properties of an isotropic material.
Fibre reinforcement (Types of fibre)
Types of fibre
Fibre reinforcement (Fibre forms)
Glass fibre forms
• Rovings
• Woven rovings
• Chopped
• Chopped mat
Fiberglass
 Fiberglass is often used for secondary structure on aircraft, such as fairings, radomes,
and wing tips. Fiberglass is also used for helicopter rotor blades.
 There are several types of fiberglass used in the aviation industry. Electrical glass, or
E-glass, is identified as such for electrical applications. It has high resistance to
current flow. E-glass is made from borosilicate glass. S-glass and S2-glass identify
structural fiberglass that have a higher strength than E-glass. S-glass is produced
from magnesia-alumina-silicate.
 Advantages of fiberglass are lower cost than other composite materials, chemical or
galvanic corrosion resistance, and electrical properties (fiberglass does not conduct
electricity). Fiberglass has a white color and is available as a dry fiber fabric or
prepreg material.
Carbon fibres

 Carbon fibers refer to fibers which are at least 92 weight% carbon in composition. Carbon fiber is
composed of carbon atoms bonded together to form a long chain. The fibers are extremely Stiff, strong,
and light, and are used in many processes to create excellent building materials.
 High tensile strength to weight ratio
 High fatigue strengths
 High modulus of Elasticity
 Lower in density
 High impact resistance

Source: “Composite Airframe structures”

by Michael Chun
Unidirectional Woven fabric
 Contd…

 Carbon fibers are very stiff and strong, 3 to 10 times stiffer than glass fibers. Carbon

fiber is used for structural aircraft applications, such as floor beams, stabilizers, flight

controls, and primary fuselage and wing structure.

 Advantages include its high strength and corrosion resistance. Disadvantages include

lower conductivity than aluminum; therefore, a lightning protection mesh or coating is

necessary for aircraft parts that are prone to lightning strikes.

 Another disadvantage of carbon fiber is its high cost. Carbon fiber is gray or black in

color and is available as dry fabric and prepreg material.

Kevlar (Aramid) Fibres
 Aramid fibers are light weight, strong, and tough. Two types of aramid fiber are used in
the aviation industry. Kevlar-49 has a high stiffness and Kevlar-29 has a low stiffness.
 An advantage of aramid fibers is their high resistance to impact damage, so they are
often used in areas prone to impact damage.
 Parts made from aramid fibers need to be protected from the environment (hygroscopy).
Another disadvantage is that Kevlar is difficult to drill and cut.
 Kevlar is often used for military ballistic and body armor applications. It has a natural
yellow color and is available as dry fabric and prepreg material. Bundles of aramid fibers
are not sized by the number of fibers like carbon or fiberglass but by the weight.
Fiberglass (left), Kevlar (middle), and carbon fiber material (right).
Epoxy (Matrix)
 Epoxies are polymerizable thermosetting resins
and are available in a variety of viscosities from
liquid to solid.
 Epoxies are used widely in resins for prepreg
materials and structural adhesives.
 The advantages of epoxies are high strength
and modulus, low levels of volatiles, excellent
adhesion, low shrinkage, good chemical
resistance, and ease of processing.

 Their major disadvantages are brittleness and the reduction of properties in the presence

of moisture. The processing or curing of epoxies is slower than polyester resins.

Other polymers (Matrix) used in Aircraft structural components

 Polyimides

 Polyester Resins

 Vinyl Ester Resin

 Phenolic Resin

 Polybenzimidazoles (PBI)

 Bismaleimides (BMI)

 Polyether Ether Ketone (PEEK)

Sandwich Structures

 Sandwich construction is a structural panel concept

that consists in its simplest form of two relatively
thin, parallel face sheets bonded to and separated
by a relatively thick, lightweight core.
 The core supports the face sheets against buckling
and resists out-of-plane shear loads.
 The core must have high shear strength and
compression stiffness.
 Composite sandwich construction is most often
fabricated using autoclave cure, press cure, or
vacuum bag cure. Strength and stiffness of honeycomb sandwich
material compared to a solid laminate.
Sandwich Structures - Core Materials
 Kraft paper
 Thermoplastics
 Aluminium
 Fiberglass
 Carbon
 Ceramics
 Lightning Protection Fibers

 An aluminum airplane is quite conductive and is able

to dissipate the high currents resulting from a lightning
strike.
 Carbon fibers are 1,000 times more resistive than
aluminum to current flow, and epoxy resin is
1,000,000 times more resistive.
 Many different types of conductive materials are used
ranging from nickel-coated graphite cloth to metal
meshes to aluminized fiberglass to conductive paints.
The materials are available for wet layup and as
prepreg.
Summary of composites in
aircraft structures
Composite Materials in Airbus Aircraft
Radome
 Aircraft radomes, being an electronic window for the radar, are often made of
nonconducting honeycomb sandwich structure with only three or four plies of
fiberglass.
 The skins are so thin so that they do not block the radar signals. The thin
structure, combined with the location in front of the aircraft, makes the radome
vulnerable to hail damage, bird strikes, and lightning strikes.
 Low-impact damage could lead to disbonds and delamination. Often, water is
found in the radome structure due to impact damage or erosion.
 The moisture collects in the core material and begins to freeze. This eventually
breaks down the honeycomb material causing a soft spot on the radome itself.
 Damage to a radome needs to be repaired quickly to avoid further damage and
radar signal obstructions. Trapped water or moisture can produce a shadow on
the radar image and severely degrade the performance of the radar.
 Radomes have lightning protections strips bonded to the outside of the radome to
dissipate the energy of a lighting strike. It is important that these lightning protection
strips are in good condition to avoid damage to the radome structure.
 Typical failures of lightning protection strips that are found during inspection are high
resistance caused by shorts in the strips or attaching hardware and disbonding of the
strips from the radome surface.
Research issues on aircraft
Bird strike analysis
Bird Strike Analysis

 Bird strike is a problem for past 100 years. Humans invented the aircraft based on
inspiration of birds flying over the sky. But birds are the major issues for accidents. Bird
strikes create severe structural damage. Bird impact test provides a direct method to
examine the bird strike resistance. Bird strikes usually occur on the aircraft while take-off
and landing the airplanes There are many parts that encountered the bird strike. Real
experiment for bird strike is time consuming process and also costlier. Computer analysis
makes the cost as low.
Bird strike possibilities
 Single or multiple large birds, relatively small numbers of medium-size birds, and large
flocks of relatively small birds are all problematic and have resulted in accidents. In the
United States, a list of birds most hazardous to flight has been identified: large flocking
waterfowl (Canada goose); gulls; pigeons and doves; blackbirds, starlings, and
sparrows; and raptors (hawks and kestrels).
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT BIRD STRIKES
 Birds don’t fly at night.
 Birds don’t fly in poor visibility, such as in clouds, fog, rain, or snow.
 Birds can detect airplane landing lights and weather radar and avoid the airplane.
 Airplane colors and jet engine spinner markings help to repel birds.
 Birds seek to avoid airplanes because of aerodynamic and engine noise.
 Birds dive to avoid an approaching airplane.
In fact, none of these statements is scientifically proven.
How to minimize airplane bird strikes??

There are three general ways to minimize airplane bird strikes:

1. modifying the birds’ habitat,
2. controlling the birds’ behavior,
3. modifying the aircrafts’ behavior.
How to minimize airplane bird strikes??

1. modifying the birds’ habitat,

Modifying the habitat surrounding an airport so it will not appeal to birds is an easy
way to encourage wild birds to seek alternative roosting and feeding grounds.
Effective measures include:
 Removing seed-bearing plants to eliminate food sources
 Using insecticides or pesticides to eliminate food sources for insect-eating birds
 Covering nearby ponds with netting to prevent birds from landing
 Removing brush and trees that serve as attractive nesting sites
 Keeping grass mowed short so it is not as suitable for bird shelter
2. Modifying Bird Behavior

Several methods can be used to modify birds’ behavior so they will not stay
near an airport. These techniques do not harm the birds but encourage them
to avoid the region.
 Using sonic cannons, recorded predator calls, and other noise
generators to disrupt birds
 Using lasers at dawn and dusk to simulate predators and scare birds
away
 Flying trained falcons over roosting areas to disrupt birds before they
nest
 Training dogs to track through the habitat and teach birds that the area
has many predators
3. Modifying Plane Behavior

Learning to work with the birds by modifying flight paths and schedules can
help minimize bird strikes. While these methods may not be feasible at all
airports, they can be used to help the airport work in harmony with the wildlife
surrounding it.
 Training spotters with binoculars and scopes to pinpoint hazardous birds
and directing planes to different runways or approaches.
 Using radar equipment to track the movement and density of bird flocks to
predict their behavior and manage control techniques more effectively.
 Adjusting flight times to avoid the busiest hours for bird activity, such as
early morning and late evening or during peak migration periods.
The Pulselite System

 The Pulselite System is an FAA certified, light weight, electrical system

modification that alternately pulses the existing lights of your aircraft at a
specific frequency and pattern that significantly increases the conspicuity
of your aircraft, and reflects its speed and directional movement.
 The result for your aircraft is significantly increased visibility, and a
significant reduction in costly and hazardous bird strikes.

For more details:

https://www.preciseflight.com/commercial/
PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES
 Airports are responsible for bird control and should provide adequate
wildlife control measures. If large birds or flocks of birds are reported or
observed near the runway, the flight crew should consider:
 Delaying the takeoff or landing when fuel permits. Advise the tower and
wait for airport action before continuing.
 Take off or land on another runway that is free of bird activity, if available.
 To prevent or reduce the consequences of a bird strike, the flight crew
should:
 Discuss bird strikes during takeoff and approach briefings when operating
at airports with known or suspected bird activity.
 Be extremely vigilant if birds are reported on final approach. If birds are
expected on final approach, plan additional landing distance to account for
the possibility of no thrust reverser use if a bird strike occurs
Lightning strikes
on aircraft
What happens when lightning strikes an airplane?

Although passengers and crew may see a flash and hear a loud noise if lightning
strikes their plane, nothing serious should happen because of the careful
lightning protection engineered into the aircraft and its sensitive components.
Initially, the lightning will attach to an extremity such as the nose or wing tip.
 Lightning-strike conditions
 The highest probability for lightning attachment
to an airplane is the outer extremities, such as
the wing tip, nose, or rudder.
 Lightning strikes occur most often during the
climb and descent phases of flight at an
altitude of 5,000 to 15,000 feet (1,524 to
4,572 meters).
 The probability of a lightning strike decreases
significantly above 20,000 feet (6,096 meters).
 Seventy percent of all lightning strikes occur
during the presence of rain.
 Most lightning strikes to airplanes occur at
near freezing temperatures.
 Lightning Observations for April 1995 through February 2003
Flash Density

For more details: https://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/articles/2012_q4/4/

Airplane lightning strikes by cloud orientation
Most airplane lightning strikes occur when an airplane is flying in clouds.
Cloud Orientation Percent of Total Reported*
Above <1%
Within 96%
Below 3%
Between <1%
Beside <1%

Distribution of lightning strikes by altitude

A survey of U.S. commercial jets showed that most lightning strikes occur between altitudes of 5,000 feet
(1,524 meters) and 15,000 feet (4,572 meters).
 Lightning Protection Fibers

 An aluminum airplane is quite conductive and is able

to dissipate the high currents resulting from a lightning
strike.
 Carbon fibers are 1,000 times more resistive than
aluminum to current flow, and epoxy resin is
1,000,000 times more resistive.
 Many different types of conductive materials are used
ranging from nickel-coated graphite cloth to metal
meshes to aluminized fiberglass to conductive paints.
The materials are available for wet layup and as
prepreg.
Ice (Hail) Impact Analysis
Ice on Aircraft - - Hazards

Why do we care about supercooled water? Because many bad things happen when
a flying aircraft starts to accumulate ice on the aircraft:
 On wings, it disturbs the airflow, so the wing gets less lift (the upward force
that keeps airplanes up).
 Anywhere on the aircraft, it adds weight (helping gravity to pull the aircraft
down).
 On propellors, it decreases their thrust (the ability to pull the aircraft
forward).
 Anywhere on the aircraft, it increases drag (tending to slow the aircraft due
to friction).
 On the empenage (the tail of the airplane), it reduces the ability to keep the
aircraft flying level.
 On the wind screen, it prevents you from seeing where you are going.
 On carburated engines (not fuel injected; not turbines), ice forms in the carburator,
partially or totally blocking flow of the fuel-air mixture into the cylinders of the engine (i.e.,
the engine loses power or dies).
 Ice can form on engine air intake filters and manifolds, reducing the air flow needed for
the engines to properly burn their fuel. This literally chokes the engine.
On some control surfaces (ailerons, elevator, rudder, flaps) it can prevent their movement
so the pilot cannot control where the aircraft is flying.
 Ice can clog the pitot tube (which measures speed of the aircraft), causing erroneous
speed readings in the cockpit.
 On some turbine (jet) engines, ice can form on the turbine blades, reducing thrust.
 On the space shuttle, ice that breaks off during launch can hit other parts of the shuttle
that can damage the protective tiles on the wings and body, causing the shuttle to burn
and explode during reentry.
• On the ground, when there
are freezing conditions and precipitation, de-
icing an aircraft is crucial.
• Frozen contaminants cause critical control
surfaces to be rough and uneven, disrupting
smooth air flow and greatly degrading the
ability of the wing to generate lift, and
increasing drag.
• This situation can cause a crash.
• If large pieces of ice separate when the
aircraft is in motion, they can be ingested in
engines or hit propellers and cause
catastrophic failure. Frozen contaminants
can jam control surfaces, preventing them
from moving properly.
Chemical de-icing
• De-icing fluids consisting of propylene glycol (PG) and additives are widely
used by airlines for de-icing aircraft.
• Ethylene glycol (EG) fluids are still in use for aircraft de-icing in some parts of
the world because it has a lower operational use temperature (LOUT) than
PG.
• When applied, most of the de-icing fluid does not adhere to the aircraft
surfaces, and falls to the ground.
• Airports typically use containment systems to capture the used liquid, so that
it cannot seep into the ground and water courses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=23&v=arRCtRJRm_o
Direct infrared heating
• Direct infrared heating has also been developed as an aircraft de-icing
technique.
• This heat transfer mechanism is substantially faster than conventional heat
transfer modes used by conventional de-icing (convection and conduction)
due to the cooling effect of the air on the de-icing fluid spray.
• One infrared de-icing system requires that the heating process take place
inside a specially-constructed hangar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7IOWDQQCC4
Smart Skins
Structural Health
monitoring (SHM) system

Capabilities:
• Sensing
• Sensors (Piezoelectric,
microsensors)
• Controlling
• (Processor, Data Acquisition system)
• Actuation
• Actuators (MR Fluid, ER Fluid, SMA)

© 72011
April 10, 2018
ANSYS, Inc.
SHM is a continuous or an intermittent observation of a mechanical structure
or system. In addition, parameters are measured with a direct or indirect
causal relationship with the current 'state of health' of the structure.
The SHM process involves the observation of a system over time using
periodically sampled dynamic response measurements from an array of
sensors, the extraction of damage-sensitive features from these
measurements, and the statistical analysis of these features to determine
the current state of the system’s health.
In the case of aircraft, the sensors (that are the nerves) must be at the place where an area is
to be monitored to ensure the structural integrity. These sensors monitor a structure over a
period of time, extract damage sensitive features from the sensors and analyze these features
to determine the current state of the structure.
Benefits of SHM
 Increased availability of the aircraft
 Effective assessment of actual damage events
 Reduced costs of life-cycle and total ownership
 Eliminate unnecessary inspections
 Provide Accurate Information for Vehicle Life Extension
 Reduced logistics
 Increased safety and reliability
 Long-term cost savings and
 Extended fleet life.
 There is a wide variety of non-destructive testing methods (NDT) and
visual inspection techniques that are being used offline.
 In time, a number of these techniques may be replaced by an on-line
SHM system.
 In a SHM-monitoring system, sensors are permanently mounted on or in
the structure.
 The software interprets the sensor information and is responsible for the
processing and management of the signals.
 The major difference between a traditional NDT and SHM system lies
mainly in the integrated system approach and autonomous inspection.
The latter results in the development of intelligent structures.
• At the level of the methodology for SHM (and detection), there are basically two
options. The first methodology will be the load (e.g. temperature, vibrations,
strains, ...) monitoring and damage prediction using a numerical model and
calculation method.
• With the second methodology, one will directly monitor the structural damage or
the physical phenomenon (e.g. crack propagation).
• It is important to detect with a high level of certainty in order to ensure that there
is no negative influence of the sensor network on the properties of the structure.
• This assembly should result in intelligent, autonomous structures. A SHM system
is a like a kind of imitation of the human nervous system with built-in sensor and
diagnostic capabilities.