AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES

1.1 Airworthiness requirements for structural strength

Airworthiness requirements are necessary with respect to aircraft structures, because established
standards of strength, control, maintainability, etc. will ensure that all aircraft will be constructed to the
safest possible standard.
The notes cover not only the basic requirements, like maximum and minimum 'g' loading, but a vast
range of other requirements with respect to the structure such as:
 Control Loads
 Door Operation
 Effect of Tabs
 Factor of Safety
 Fatigue
 High Lift Devices
 Stability & Stalling
 Ventilation ,Weights
1.1.1 Principal Aircraft Structures
The principal aircraft load-carrying structural sections or components include the ;
 fuselage,
 lifting surfaces,
 control surfaces,
 stabilizers, and
 landing gear.

The fuselage is the central aircraft component, which has a cockpit or flight deck for the
crew and a section for the passengers and cargo.
The lifting surfaces include the wings on airplanes and gliders and the main rotors of
helicopters.
Control surfaces include ailerons, rudders, elevators, flaps, spoilers, and trim tabs.
Stabilizers are used to improve the pitch and yaw stability of the aircraft.
The landing gear may be fixed or retractable and may use skids, wheels, floats, or skis,
depending on the type of aircraft and the operating terrain.

1.1.1 Major stresses of aircraft structure

The stresses (effects of applied forces) to which structural members are subjected are:
 compression,
 tension,
 torsion,
 bending, and
 shear.

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1.1.1 The following definitions will serve to understand the nature of each type of stress:
 Compression is the stress that tends to crush or press together.
- The l/g of an aircraft is subjected to compression when the aircraft is landing.
 Tension is the stress in a member when a force tends to elongate or stretch it.
- A bolt tightened to hold parts firmly together is subjected to tension.
- A cable is in tension when it is used to lift an aircraft or engine.
 Torsion is the stress of twisting.
-Rotating shafts under load are subjected to torsion.
 Bending is actually a combination of compression and tension.
When a bar is bent, the portion of the bar toward the outside of the bend is
subjected to tension and the portion of the bar toward the inside of the bend is
subjected to compression.
The wings of an aircraft are subjected to bending stresses.
 Shear is the stress developed when a force tends to cause a layer of material to slide
along an adjacent layer.
When two strips of metal are joined by means of rivets or bolts, a tensile force applied to the
opposite ends of the assembled strips in a manner tending to pull them apart will produce shear stress in
the rivets or bolts.
 Strain is the effect of overstressing a part or assembly to the point where a permanent deformation takes
place. If an aircraft part has become strained, the part very likely will no longer be airworthy (Fig. 2-3).

(Fig. 2-3).
 Stress is load or force per unit area acting on a body. Stress = Load or Force
Cross Sectional Area
 Strain is the distortion per unit length of a body. Strain = Distortion
Original Length
The five types of stress are:
 Compression
 Tension
 Bending (a combination of compression and tension)
 Twisting/Torsion
 Shear
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1.2 Structural Classification
For the purpose of assessing damage and the type of repairs to be carried out, the structure of all aircraft
is divided into three significant categories:-
 Primary structure
 Secondary structure
 Tertiary structure
Diagrams are prepared by each manufacturer to denote how the various structural members fall into
these three categories.
In the manuals of older aircraft the use of colour may be found to identify the three categories. Primary
Structure is shown in Red, Secondary in Yellow and Tertiary in Green.
Note: This system has been discontinued for many years, but with some aircraft having a life of 30
or more years and still being operated; it may still be possible to find the old system in use.

1.2.1 Primary Structure

This structure includes all portions of aircraft, the failure of which in flight or on the ground, would be
likely to cause:
 Catastrophic structural collapse
 Inability to operate a service
 Injury to occupants
 Loss of control
 Unintentional operation of a service
 Power unit failure
Examples of some types of primary structure are as follows:
 Engine mountings
 Fuselage frames
 Main floor members
 Main spars

Fig. 1 Primary Structure – Engine mountings

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1.2.2 Secondary Structure
This structure includes all portions of the aircraft which would normally be regarded as primary
structure, but which unavoidably have such a reserve of strength over design requirements that
appreciable weakening may be permitted, without risk of failure. It also includes structure which if
damaged, would not impair the safety of the aircraft.
Examples of secondary structure include:
 Ribs and parts of skin in the wings.
 Skin and stringers in the fuselage

1.2.3 TERTIARY STRUCTURE

This type of structure includes all portions of the structure in which the stresses are low, but which, for
various reasons, cannot be omitted from the aircraft. Typical examples include fairings, fillets and
brackets which support items in the fuselage and adjacent areas.

1.3 Fail safe, Safe life and Damage tolerant concepts

1.3.1 FAIL SAFE

A fail safe structure is one which retains, after initiation of a fracture or crack, sufficient strength for the
operation of the aircraft with an acceptable standard of safety, until such failure is detected on a normal
scheduled inspection.
This is achieved by part and full scale airframe testing and fatigue analysis by usually by the aircraft
manufacturer and by subsequent in-service experience.

1.3.2 SAFE LIFE

Safe life structure and components are granted a period of time during which it is considered, that
failure is extremely unlikely. When deciding this duration, the effects of wear, fatigue and corrosion
must all be considered. For example, if tests show that fatigue will cause a failure in 12,000 flying
hours, then one sixth of this might be quoted as the safe life (2000 hours then scrapped). If wear or
corrosion proves to be the likely cause of failure before 12,000 hours, then one of these will be the
deciding factor.
The safe life time period may be expressed in flying hours, elapsed time, number of flights or number
of applications of load, ie; pressurisation cycles.

1.3.3 DAMAGE TOLERANCE

The fail safe method has proven to be somewhat unreliable following some accidents that proved that the
concept was not 100% guaranteed. It was also a severe limitation that the addition of extra structural
members to protect the integrity of the structure considerably increased the weight of the aircraft.
The damage tolerant concept has eliminated much of the extra weight, by distributing the loads on a
particular structure over a larger area. This requires an evaluation of the structure, to provide multiple
load paths to carry the loading. The main advantage is that even with a crack present, the structure will
retain its integrity and that during scheduled maintenance programmes, the crack will be found before it
can become critical.

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For example, a wing attachment to the fuselage, which in the past would have been designed with one
or two large pintle bolts, will now have a larger number of smaller bolts in the fitting. The single or dual
bolt attachment had to be heavily reinforced to take the wing loading, adding more weight, whereas the
multiple load paths can be constructed in a lighter manner, whilst still maintaining its strength

.
Fuselage side spar side
Fig. 3 -Single Pin Attachment

1.4 Zonal and station identification system

1.4.1 Zonal system
During many different maintenance operations including component changes, structural repairs or
trouble shooting, it is necessary to indicate to the engineer where, within the structure, the correct
location is to be found for the work to be carried out.
When attempting to establish a specific location or identifying components, some manufacturers make
use of two systems,
 Zonal system and
 frame/station method.
The Zonal system found in ATA chapter 6 divides the airframe into a number of zones, (usually less
than 10), to give engineers and others a rough idea of where they need to look. The Zonal system may
also be used in component labelling and work card area identification.
In the illustration below, an engineer might have for example a work card numbered 500376, indicating
it was Job 376 located on the left wing (Zone 500).

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1.4.2 Station identification system
Most manufacturers use a system of station marking where, for example, the aircraft nose is designated
Station 0 and other station designations are located at measured distances aft of this point. Component
and other locations within the wings, tailplane, fin and nacelles are established from separate dedicated
station’s zero.

Fuselage Locations
Longitudinal points along the fuselage of an airplane are determined by reference to a zero datum line
[F.S. (fuselage station) 0.00] usually at or near the forward portion of the fuselage. The position of the
datum line is set forth in the Type Certificate Data Sheet or Aircraft Specification for the airplane and
also in manufacturer’s data. Fuselage stations for a general aviation aircraft are shown in Fig. 11.30
A particular fuselage station (or frame) would be identified, for example, as Station 5050. This means
that if the metric system of measurement is employed, the frame is located at 5.05 metres (5050mm) aft
of station zero.

Lateral Locations
To locate structures to the right or left of the aircraft, many manufacturers consider the fuselage centre
line as a station zero. With such a system, the wing or tailplane ribs could be identified as being a
particular number of millimetres (or inches) to the right or the left of the centre line.

Wing Stations
To locate points on the wing of an airplane, the wing station (WS) numbers are measured from the
centerline of the fuselage. This line is also called the butt line (BL).
Butt line (BL) is the center line of the fuselage. Positions on the horizontal stabilizer and elevator are
given butt line station numbers.
Wing stations are indicated in inches either right or left of the fuselage centerline. Wing stations for the
wings of an airplane are shown in Fig. 2-4.below

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 Butt-line stations.

Vertical Locations
These are usually measured above or below a ‘water line’, which is a predetermined reference line
passing along the side of the fuselage, usually, somewhere between the floor level and the window line.
Others may start from an imaginary reference point situated below the lowered landing gear.
Water Line
The water line (WL) is a line established for locating stations on a vertical line. The term water line
originated with the design and building of ship hulls and was used as a vertical reference. Vertical
measurements on an airplane may be either negative or positive, depending upon whether the point is
above or below the water line.
WL stations are used to locate positions on the landing gear, vertical stabilizer, and at any other point at
which it is necessary to locate a vertical distance.
Fig. 2-5 shows how WL stations are used for location on the vertical stabilizer of an airplane.

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Component Stations
Some aircraft components are given their own station reference lines. For example, an aileron may have
aileron stations established across its span, starting with aileron station (AS) 0.00,
located at the inboard edge of the aileron. Positions outboard of the inboard station are indicated in
inches.
Other examples of component stations are shown in Fig. 2-7 and include winglet stations, engine
stations, and vertical stabilizer/rudder stations

Fig. 2-7 Engine stations

2.7 CONSTRUCTION METHODS

The construction methods applies to small, medium, and large aircraft. The interior structure to which
the skin or plating is attached consists of:
 longerons,
 frames,
 bulkheads,
 stringers,
 gussets, and possibly
 intercostal members riveted, bolted, or bonded together to form a rigid structure that shapes the
fuselage. The skin or plating is riveted or bonded to the structure to form the complete unit.
A) Fuselage
The fuselage is the body of an aircraft to which the wings and the tail unit are attached. It provides space
for the crew, passengers, cargo, controls, and other items, depending upon the size and design of the
aircraft.
Types of fuselages
Fuselages are classified into three principal types, depending upon the method by which stresses are
transmitted to the structure.
The three types according to this classification are;
 truss,
 semimonocoque, and
 monocoque.

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Truss
A truss is an assemblage of members forming a rigid framework, which may consist of bars, beams,
rods, tubes,wires, etc.
The truss-type fuselage may be sub-classified as a Pratt truss or a Warren truss. The primary strength
members of both Pratt and Warren trusses are the four longerons.
Longerons is a principal longitudinal member of the aircraft fuselage.

In the truss-type fuselage, lateral bracing is placed at intervals. The lateral structures
may be classed as bulkheads, although this is not strictly true from a technical standpoint. The spaces
between the bulkheads are called bays.

A Pratt truss similar to the type used in present aircraft with tubular fuselage members is shown in Fig.
2-11.

In the original Pratt truss, the longerons were connected with rigid vertical and lateral members called
struts, but the diagonal members were made of strong steel wire and were designed to carry tension only.
The diagonal members are rigid and can carry either tension or compression

A Warren truss in Fig. 2-12. In this construction, the longerons are connected with only diagonal
members of the tail boom are called frames, or bulkheads. Between
the principal vertical members are lighter formers, or rings, to maintain the uniform shape of the
structure. The longitudinal members are called stringers, and they serve to stiffen
the metal skin and prevent it from bulging or buckling under severe stress.

Use of stringers has enabled aircraft designers to use aluminum skins as light as 0.020 in thickness for the primary structure
on airplanes as large as light twins.
Larger semi-monocoque aircraft use progressively thicker skins and still maintain an equivalent stress level in the skin, along
with an equally good weight-to-strength ratio. The construction of a semi-monocoque fuselage is illustrated in Fig. 2-17.

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 Fig. 2-17 - A semi-monocoque fuselage.
Monocoque Structure
The name monocoque means single shell, and in a true monocoque structure, all the strength of the
structure is carried in the outside skin. Figure 2-1 shows a simplified view of a monocoque structure. The
bulkhead and formers give the structure its shape, but the thin metal skin riveted to them carries all the
flight loads

Fig. 2-1. A true monocoque structure has bulkheads and formers to give the
structure its shape, but all of the flight loads are carried in the thin sheet
metal skin.
An example of a pure monocoque construction is a chicken’s egg, since it has no internal support, only
the egg shell carries the load. In practice, this construction is difficult to achieve, as the skin would have
to be so thick, that the extra weight penalty incurred, would severely impair the ability to fly. However,
the principle is sometimes used in the construction of composite material external fuel tanks, mainly for
military aircraft and even here some internal strengthening is necessary
This construction is light and stiff the monocoque structure can carry loads effectively, particularly when
the fuselage is of a small diameter. As its diameter increases to form the internal cavity necessary for a
fuselage, the weight-to-strength ratio becomes more inefficient, and longitudinal stiffeners or stringers
are added.

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Semi-monocoque Structure
Pure monocoque structure has the serious drawback that any dent or deformation will decrease its ability
to carry the flight loads. To overcome this limitation, semi-monocoque structure as seen in Fig. 2-2 is
widely used. In this type of structure, bulkheads and formers still provide the shape, and the majority of
the flight loads are carried in the skin, but stringers are installed across the formers to reinforce the skin
and prevent its deforming under normal operational loads.

Fig.2-2. A semi-monocoque structure carries the flight loads in its outer skin, but this
thin skin is backed up with stringers that extend across the formers.

Stressed Skin Fuselage

This is a method which provides a very smooth surface, because the skin is stiff enough not to be
distorted by the airflow. With the advent of pressurised cabins the usefulness of a strong skin is evident
when considering pressurisation loads.
In a stressed skin fuselage construction, about half the loads are carried by the skin and half by the
supporting structure. This type of construction is called semi monocoque and its advantage is that the
space within the structure is unobstructed and is used for passengers and freight.

Frames and Formers

Frames and formers provide the basic fuselage shape, with the frames, being of more robust
construction, providing strong points for attachment of other fittings such as the wings and tailplane.

Bulkheads
Where extra support is required within a fuselage for mounting of components such as wings and
landing gear, bulkheads are to transfer the loads to the fuselage structure without producing stress raising
points.
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 Bulkheads can be either a complete or a partial circular frame, which usually reinforces a fuselage
frame. Other examples are solid pressurisation bulkheads which are normally found at the front of the
fuselage ahead of the flight deck and at the rear of the pressure cabin, or an engine firewall on the
nacelles

Longerons and Stringers

Longerons are used in fuselage construction, where either an aperture such as a door or window requires
greater support, or where a number of structural high load points such as floors, landing gear
attachments, etc. need to be interconnected. They are usually of much heavier construction than stringers
and can be solid extrusions or fabricated multiple part construction.
Stringers provide longitudinal shape and support to the fuselage skin. They are also the spanwise
members of the main planes, vertical and horizontal stabilisers and flying control surfaces. Often
stringers are attached to frames with fillets or gussets.

Longerons and Stringers

Fig. 20

Doublers and Reinforcement

Where the skin requires extra strengthening, at the junction of plates or around small apertures, a second
layer of skin is attached over the original to reinforce it. This extra plate is known as a doubler or a
doubler plate.
Where loads are concentrated within the structure, it can be strengthened at these places by either
making the material thicker, or by the addition of a number of layers of similar material. The actual
amount of reinforcement being dictated by the amount of stress carried in each area.

Fig. 21 Doubler Plate

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Struts and Ties
Any structural item that is designed solely to take a compressive load is called a strut. Whereas an item
that only takes a tensile load is called a tie. They can be found throughout a modern aircraft structure,
although an ideal example would be a high performance biplane. In this type of aircraft often used for
aerobatics, the struts which separate the pairs of wings, in compression and the interconnecting flying
wires, in tension, take all the loads produced by the wing.

Struts and Wires

Fig. 22
Defns
 Monocoque structure. A type of structure that carries all of the stresses in its
outside skin .
 Duralumin. The name for the original alloy of aluminum, magnesium, manganese,
and copper. Duralumin is the same as the modern 2017 aluminum alloy.
 Stressed skin structure. A type of aircraft structure in which all or most of the
stresses are carried in the outside skin . A stressed skin
structure has a minimum of intel11al structure .
 Semi-monocoque structure. A form of aircraft stressed skin structure. Most of the
strength of a semi-monocoque structure is in the skin
but the skin is supported on a substructure of formers and stringers that give the skin its shape
and increase its rigidity.

 Bulkhead. -A structural partition that divides the fuselage of an aircraft into

compartment, or bays.
 Former. An aircraft structural member used to give a fuselage its shape.
 Stringer. A part of an aircraft structure used to give the fuselage its shape and. in
some types of structure to provide a small part of the fuselage strength.
Formers give the fuselage its cross-sectional shape and stringers fill in the
shape between the formers .
 Longerons. The main longitudinal, load bearing member of an aircraft fuselage.
Reinforced Shell Structure(stressed skin)
The reinforced shell structure such as the one in Fig. 2-3 elaborates on the semi-monocoque structure.
This is the most commonly used structure in modern all-metal aircraft. The shape is provided by
bulkheads, formers, and stringers, but this structure is reinforced with longerons that help carry the
loads. A sheet-metal skin riveted over the structure carries a major portion of the flight loads.

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Fig. 2-3. The reinforcedshell is the most generally used type of construction for modem
all-metal aircraft.

L-1011 fuselage sections. (Lockheed California Co.)

Aluminum alloys used for transport aircraft

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Doors and Windows
The aircraft fuselage structure must be designed to allow for openings for doors, windshields, and
windows.
These openings require the use of special provisions in the area to allow the operational loads to flow
around these openings. The number of doors range from only one on a light aircraft to several, such as
are found on the Boeing 777 illustrated in Fig. 2-41.

FIG. 2-41 Access and entry doors on transport aircraft

The doors for light aircraft are usually constructed of the same materials used for the other major
components.
Typically, the main framework of a door consists of a formed sheet-metal structure to provide rigidity
and strength, and to this framework is riveted the sheet-metal outer skin. The metal used is an aluminum
alloy such as 2024-T4.

Methods of manufacture

The door frame is formed on a hydro-press, stamp press, or drop hammer.

If the door is used for entrance to an upholstered cabin, the inside of the door is covered with a matching
upholstered panel.
Inside the door structure are located the door latching and locking mechanisms. The upper portion of the
door often contains a window made of a clear plastic similar door, shown in Fig. 2-43, is hinged at the
bottom, and when the door is unlatched from the fuselage, it pivots outward and downward to become a
stair for entering and leaving the aircraft.

A two-piece version of this door has a top half, which is hinged at the top of the door frame. The top half
is opened first and locked into position. The bottom half is then lowered and becomes the entrance stair.
The stair-door is found on both pressurized and unpressurized aircraft

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 FIG.2-43 A one-piece stair-door on a Canadair Challenger 601. (Canadair Inc.)

A two-piece version of this door has a top half, which is hinged at the top of the door frame. The top half
is opened first and locked into position. The bottom half is then lowered and becomes the entrance stair.
The stair-door is found on both pressurized and unpressurized aircraft

The doors for a pressurized aircraft must be much stronger and much more complex than the door for a
light airplane. Typical of a door for the main cabin of a transport-category aircraft is that shown in Fig.
2-44. As shown in the drawing, the door consists of a strong framework of aluminum alloy to which is
riveted a heavy outer skin formed to the contour of the fuselage.

FIG. 2-44 Main cabin door for an airliner. (Boeing Commercial Aircraft Co.)

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At the top and the bottom edges of the door are hinged gates that make it possible, in effect, to decrease
the height of the door so it can be swung outward through the door opening.
The hinging and controlling mechanism of the door is rather complex in order to provide for the
necessary maneuvering to move the door outside the airplane when loading and unloading passengers.
For safety in a pressurized airplane, the door is designed to act as a plug for the door opening, and the
pressure in the cabin seats the door firmly in place.
To accomplish this, the door must be larger than its opening and must be inside the airplane with
pressure pushing outward. This prevents the rapid decompression of the cabin that could occur if the
door closed from the outside and the securing mechanism were to become unlatched.
Another type of entrance door being used in airliners is a vertical retracting door. This type of door stays
inside the aircraft during operation and does not require the complex motions associated with the typical
airliner hinged door. When being operated, the vertical door slides into the overhead area of the cabin,
providing a clear access opening for entering and leaving the aircraft. Figure 2-45 shows this type of
door.

FIG.2-45 Main entrance door features on a Boeing 767-200. (Boeing Commercial Aircraft Co.)
Windows
Window openings are centered between the fuselage frames and are reinforced by aluminum doublers and a
high-strength aluminum alloy window frame. Fig. 2-46 illustrates where a sheet-metal doubler is used around the
window of a transport aircraft.

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 FIG. 2-46 Passenger compartment window. (McDonnell Douglas Corp.)
The windows for the passenger compartment of a large airplane must be designed and installed so there is no
possibility that they will blow out when the compartment is pressurized. They must be able to withstand the
continuous and cyclic pressurization loadings without undergoing a progressive loss of strength.

B).WINGS (MAIN PLANES)

a) Wing Configurations
Wings are airfoils that, when moved rapidly through the air, create lift.
They are built in many shapes and sizes Wing design can vary to provide certain desirable flight
characteristics. Control at various operating speeds, the amount of lift generated, balance, and stability
all change as the shape of the wing is altered.
Both the leading edge and the trailing edge of the wing may be straight or curved, or one edge may be
straight and the other curved. One or both edges may be tapered so that the wing is narrower at the tip
than at the root where it joins the fuselage.
Wing tip
The wing tip may be square, rounded, or even pointed. Fig. 1-19 shows a number of typical wing
leading and trailing edge shapes.

Fuselage attachment;
The wings of an aircraft can be attached to the fuselage at;
 the top,
 mid-fuselage, or
 at the bottom.
They may extend perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the fuselage or can angle up or down slightly.
This angle is known as the wing dihedral.

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The dihedral angle affects the lateral stability of the aircraft. Fig. 1-20below shows some common wing
attach points and dihedral angle.

Fig. 1-20. Wing attach points and wing dihedrals

Wing Structure
The wings of an aircraft are designed to lift it into the air. Their particular design for any given aircraft
depends on a number of factors, such as
 size, & weight,
 use of the aircraft,
 desired speed in flight and at landing, and
 desired rate of climb.
The wings of aircraft are designated left and right, corresponding to the left and right sides of the
operator when seated in the cockpit.

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Cantilever design
Often wings are of full cantilever design. This means they are built so that no external bracing is
needed. They are supported internally by structural members assisted by the skin of the aircraft. Other
aircraft wings use external struts or wires to assist in supporting the wing and carrying the aerodynamic
and landing loads. Wing support cables and struts are generally made from steel.
Many struts and their attach fittings have fairings to reduce drag. Short, nearly vertical supports called
jury struts are found on struts that attach to the wings a great distance from the fuselage. This serves to
subdue strut movement and oscillation caused by the air flowing around the strut in flight.
Fig. 1-22 shows samples of wings using external bracing, also known as semi-cantilever wings.
Cantilever wings built with no external bracing are also shown.

Fig. 1-22. Externally braced wings, also called semi-cantilever wings, have wires or struts to support
the wing. Full cantilever wings have no external bracing and are supported internally.
Materials
Aluminum alloy is the most common material from which to construct wings, but they can be wood
covered with fabric, and occasionally a magnesium alloy has been used. Moreover, modern aircraft are
tending toward lighter and stronger materials throughout the airframe and in wing construction.
Wings made entirely of carbon fiber or other composite materials exist, as well as wings made of a
combination of materials for maximum strength to weight performance.
Basic Features of Wing Construction
Conventional wings are of three general types:
 monospar,
 two-spar, and
 multispar.
True stressed-skin wings may have shear webs but no true “spars.”
The monospar wing has only one spar.
The two-spar wing has two spars, as the name indicates, and the multi-spar wing has more than two
spars.
A wing spar, sometimes called a wing beam, is a principal span-wise member of the wing structure. The
spars in the basic structure for the wings of a typical light aircraft are shown in Fig. 2-49.

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 FIG. 2-49 Light-aircraft wings normally have one or two main spars. (Piper Aircraft Co.)

Fig. 1-23. Wing structure nomenclature

Spars
The spars are the principle structural members of a wing.
 They support all distributed loads, as well as concentrated weights such as the fuselage, landing
gear, and engines. Spars may be made of metal, wood, or composite materials depending on the
design criteria of a specific aircraft.
The skin, which is attached to the wing structure, carries part of the loads imposed during flight. It also
transfers the stresses to the wing ribs.
Metal spars may be made in a variety of designs. Examples of some metal-spar types are shown in Fig.
2-50.

FIG.2-50 Metal-spar construction. (a) Built-up I-beam;

(b) extruded I-beam; (c) built-up double-web spar;
(d) welded-steel small-tubing structure; (e) welded-steel large-tubing structure.
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Methods of manufacturing
Spar shapes may be achieved through;
 an extrusion process or may be
 assembled by riveting, bonding, and welding.
Increasingly, all composite carbon fiber wing spars are utilized in new composite wings.
If a single spar is used, it is located near the midpoint of the airfoil chord line. If two spars are used, one
is located near the leading edge and the other is located near the rear of the wing, usually just forward of
the trailing-edge flight controls. Typical spar locations are shown in Fig. 2-49.above

The spars include attachment points for connection to the fuselage and, if the wings are of a semi-
cantilever design, strut fittings located at a midpoint along the spar. If the landing gear or engine is
mounted on the wing, the spars incorporate structural attachments for these components.

Wing rib
A wing rib, sometimes called a plain rib, is a chord wise member of the wing structure used to give the
wing section its shape and also to transmit the air loads from the covering to the spars. The ribs, which
are placed at appropriate intervals along the wing span, also stabilize the spars against twisting and act as
formers to hold the airfoil’s shape.
The rib may extend from the leading edge of the wing to the trailing edge, or it may extend only to the
rear spar, as in the area ahead of a flap or aileron.

General design of light-airplane wing

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Wing Skin
Often, the skin on a wing is designed to carry part of the flight and ground loads in combination with
the spars and ribs. This is known as a stressed-skin design.
The all-metal, full cantilever wing section illustrated in Fig. 1-35 shows the structure of one such design.
The lack of extra internal or external bracing requires that the skin share some of the
load. Notice the skin is stiffened to aid with this function

Fig. 1-35. The skin is an integral load carrying part of a stressed skin design.
The wing skin on an aircraft may be made from a wide variety of materials such as fabric, wood, or
aluminum. But a single thin sheet of material is not always employed. Chemically
milled aluminum skin can provide skin of varied thicknesses.
On aircraft with stressed-skin wing design, honeycomb structured wing panels are often used as skin.
A honeycomb structure is built up from a core material resembling a bee hive’s honeycomb which is
laminated or sandwiched between thin outer skin sheets. Fig.1-37 illustrates honeycomb panes and their
components. Panels formed like this are lightweight and very strong

Fig. 1-37. The honeycomb panel is a staple in aircraft construction. Cores can be either constant thickness (A) or tapered (B). Tapered core
honeycomb panels are frequently used as flight control surfaces and wing trailing edges.

Nacelles
Nacelles (sometimes called “pods”) are streamlined enclosures used primarily to house the engine and its components.
They usually present a round or elliptical profile to the wind thus reducing aerodynamic drag. On most single-engine
aircraft, the engine and nacelle are at the forward end of the fuselage. On multiengine aircraft, engine nacelles are built into
the wings or attached to the fuselage at the empennage (tail section). Occasionally, a multiengine aircraft is designed with a
nacelle in line with the fuselage aft of the passenger compartment.
Regardless of its location, a nacelle contains;
 the engine and accessories,
 engine mounts,
 structural members,
 a firewall, and skin
 and cowling on the exterior to fare the nacelle to the wind.

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Some aircraft have nacelles that are designed to house the landing gear when retracted. Retracting the gear to reduce
wind resistance is standard procedure on high-performance/ high-speed aircraft. The wheel well is the area where the
landing gear is attached and stowed when retracted. Wheel wells can be located in the wings and/or fuselage when not
part of the nacelle.

Empennage
The empennage of an aircraft is also known as the tail section. Most empennage designs consist of;
 a tail cone,
 fixed aerodynamic surfaces or stabilizers, and
 movable aerodynamic surfaces.
The tail cone serves to close and streamline the aft end of most fuselages.
The cone is made up of structural members like those of the fuselage; however, cones are usually of
lighter construction since they receive less stress than the fuselage.

The fuselage terminates at the tail cone with similar but more lightweight construction

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Fail-safe
Fail-safe means that should one member of a complex structure fail, some other part of the
structure assumes the load of the failed member and permits continued operation. A spar
with fail-safe construction is shown in Fig. 1-30.

A fail-safe spar with a riveted spar web.

This spar is made in two sections. The top section consists of a cap riveted to the upper
web plate. The lower section is a single extrusion consisting of the lower cap and web
plate. These two sections are spliced together to form the spar. If either section of this type
of spar breaks, the other section can still carry the load. This is the fail-safe feature

2.7.3 CONSTRUCTION METHODS – EMPENNAGE

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The vertical and horizontal stabilisers, elevators and rudder are constructed in a
manner similar to the wings but on a smaller scale. The main structural members
are the spars, with the stringers, ribs and stressed skin completing the basic
design.

Typical Stabilizer Construction

Figure 26

2.7.4 CONSTRUCTION METHODS – ENGINE ATTACHMENTS

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Engine mountings consist of the structure that transmits the thrust provided by
either the propeller or turbojet, to the airframe. The mounts can be constructed
from welded alloy steel tubing, formed sheet metal, forged alloy fittings or a
combination of all three. Some typical examples are shown in Figures 27 to 29. All
engine mounts are required to absorb not only the forward thrust during normal
flight, but the reduced force of reverse thrust and the vibrations produced by the
particular engine/propeller combination..

Fabricated Piston Engine Mounting

Figure 27

Tubular Turbo propeller Mounting

Figure 28

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1.0 AIRWORTHINESS REQUIREMENTS FOR STRUCTURAL STRENGTH
1.1 STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION
 Primary structure
 Secondary Structure
 Tertiary Structure

1.2 FAIL SAFE, SAFE LIFE AND DAMAGE TOLERANT CONCEPTS

 Fail Safe
 Safe Life
 Damage Tolerance

1.3 ZONAL AND STATION IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM

 Zonal System
 Station Identification System

1.4 LOADS FOUND WITHIN THE STRUCTURE – STRESS AND STRAIN

 Compression
 Tension
 Bending
 Torsion
 Shear
 Hoop Stress
 Metal Fatigue

1.5 CONSTRUCTION METHODS

Stressed Skin Fuselage
a) Frames and Formers
b) Bulkheads
c) Longerons and Stringers
d) Doublers and Reinforcement
e) Struts and Ties
f) Beams and Floor Structures

Methods of Skinning
 Anti-Corrosive Protection
 Construction Methods – Wing
 Construction Methods – Empennage
 Construction Methods – Engine Attachments
 Structural Assembly Techniques
 Solid Shank Rivets
 Special and Blind Fasteners.
 Bolts and Nuts
 Adhesive Bonded Structures

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