School of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering 

Department of Aeronautical Engineering  

 
AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES-II  
VIRTUAL LABORATORY (AER18R372)  

VIRTUAL LAB RECORD

Academic Year (2019 -2020) Odd Semester

Name of the Student: J GUNNAL  

Register No:9918030002  
Year :III 
Semester :V  
Section :A 
 

1
 School of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering  
Department of Aeronautical Engineering  

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE  

Bonafide record of work done by ______________________________________________ 

of _________________________Department in ​__________________________________ 

Laboratory during odd semester in academic year 2019-2020.  

Staff-incharge Head of the Department  

Submitted to the Practical Examination held at Kalasalingam Academy of Research 

and Education, Krishnankoil on ________________  

Register Number   

Internal Examiner ` External Examiner 

1
 

CONTENTS   

S.N Name of the Experiment  Page No  Date  Remarks 

O 

1  Determine the deflection  1     

shape of the beam 

2  Determine the beam’s       

vertical deflection  

3  Obtain the Expressions for      

Mx and My along the
edges of the plate.
 

4  Calculate column buckling      

load 

5  Determine the number of      

cycles to failure of the
infinite plate 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1
 
EXP NO:1  DATE: 

 
 
Determine the deflection shape of the beam 
 
 
 

VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT DEFINITION: 

Use MATLAB to Determine the deflected shape of the beam shown in Fig 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
1
PROGRAMMATIC SOLUTION/OUTPUT: 
 
The beam deflection curve equation is obtained through the following MATLAB file: 
% Declare any needed variables 
syms M_0 L b EI z a o C_1 C_2 
% Define the support reactions shown in Fig 
R_A=-M_0/L; 
R_C=M_0/L; 
% Define the equation for the bending moment at any section Z between B and C 
M=[-R_A*z -M_0*(a)^o]; % For z<=b: a=0; For z>b: a=z-b 
% Substitute M into the second of Eq 
v_zz=-M/EI; 
% Integrate v_zz to get v_z and v 
v_z=[int(v_zz(1),z)þC_1/EI int(v_zz(2),a)]; 
v=[int(v_z(1),z)þC_2/EI int(v_z(2),a)]; 
v=sum(subs(v,o,0)); 
% Use boundary conditions to determine C_1 and C_2 
% BC #1: v=0 when z=0 
c_2=solve(subs(subs(v*EI,a,0),z,0),C_2); 
v=subs(v,C_2,c_2); 
% BC #1: v=0 when z=0 
c_1=solve(subs(subs(v*EI,a,z-b),z,L),C_1); 
v=simplify(subs(v,C_1,c_1)); 
% Output the resulting deflection equation to the Command Window 
disp(‘The equation for the deflection curve of the beam is:’) 
disp([‘v=’ char(v)]) 
disp(‘Where: a=0 for z<=b, and a=z-b for z>b’) 
 
The Command Window outputs resulting from this MATLAB file are as follows. The 
equation for the deflection 
curve of the beam is 
v=-(M_0*(2*L^2*z - 3*L*a^2 - 6*L*b*zþ3*b^2*zþz^3))/(6*EI*L) 
Where: a=0 for z<=b, and a=z-b for z>b 

1
 
 
EXP NO:2  DATE: 

 
 
Determine the beam’s vertical deflection 
 
 
 

VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT DEFINITION: 

Use MATLAB to Determine the vertical deflection of the free end of the cantilever beam
shown in Fig 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

1
PROGRAMMATIC SOLUTION/OUTPUT: 
 
Calculation of the vertical deflection of the free end of the cantilever shown in Fig is 
obtained through the following MATLAB file: 
% Declare any needed variables 
syms M_A M_V W_e W_i E I w x L v_B 
% Define the moments due to the applied load (M_A) and the unit virtual load (M_V) 
M_A = -0.5*w*(L-x)^2; 
M_V = -1*(L-x); 
% Define equations for the external (W_e) and internal (W_i) virtual work 
W_e = 1*v_B; 
W_i = int(M_A*M_V/(E*I),x,0,L); % From Eq. (4.21) 
% Equate W_e and W_i, and solve for the free end vertical displacement (v_B) 
v_B = solve(W_e-W_i,v_B); 
% Output v_B to the Command Window 
disp([‘v_B =’ char(v_B)]) 
The Command Window output resulting from this MATLAB file is as follows: 
v_B = (L^4*w)/(8*E*I) 
 

1
 
EXP NO:3  DATE: 

 
 
Obtain the Expressions for Mx and My along the edges of the plate. 
 
 
 

VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT DEFINITION: 

Show that the deflection function w =A(x​2​ y​2​ -bx​2​ y- axy​2​ + abxy) is valid for a rectangular
plate of sides a and b, built in on all four edges and subjected to a uniformly distributed
load of intensity q. If the material of the plate has a Young’s modulus E and is of thickness
t, determine the distributions of bending moment along the edges of the plate.Use MATLAB
to obtain the Expressions for Mx and My along the edges of the plate. 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1
PROGRAMMATIC SOLUTION/OUTPUT: 
 
Expressions for Mx and My along the edges of the plate are obtained through the following 
MATLAB file: 
% Declare any needed variables 
syms w A x y b a q M_x M_y v D 
% Define the given deflection function 
w = A*(x^2*y^2 - b*x^2*y - a*x*y^2 þ a*b*x*y); 
 
check = diff(w,x,4) þ 2*diff(diff(w,x,2),y,2) þ diff(w,y,4) - q/D; 
if diff(check,x) == sym(0) && diff(check,y) == sym(0) && check = -q/D 
disp(‘The deflection function is valid’) 
disp(‘ ’) 
% Solve check for the constant A and substitute back into w 
A_val = solve(check,A); 
w = subs(w,A,A_val); 
% Calculate the bending moment distributions using Eqs  
eqI = -D*(diff(w,x,2) þ v*diff(w,y,2)); % M_x 
eqII = -D*(diff(w,y,2) þ v*diff(w,x,2)); % M_y 
% Output expressions of M_x, M_y for the edge x=0 to the Command Window 
disp(‘For the edge x = 0:’) 
disp([‘M_x =’ char(simplify(subs(eqI,x,0)))]) 
disp([‘M_y =’ char(simplify(subs(eqII,x,0)))]) 
disp(‘ ’) 
% Output expressions of M_x, M_y for the edge x=a to the Command Window 
disp(‘For the edge x = a:’) 
disp([‘M_x =’ char(simplify(subs(eqI,x,a)))]) 
disp([‘M_y =’ char(simplify(subs(eqII,x,a)))]) 
disp(‘ ’) 
Plates subjected to a distributed transverse load 249 
% Output expressions of M_x, M_y for the edge y=0 to the Command Window 
disp(‘For the edge y = 0:’) 
disp([‘M_x =’ char(simplify(subs(eqI,y,0)))]) 

1
disp([‘M_y =’ char(simplify(subs(eqII,y,0)))]) 
disp(‘ ’) 
% Output expressions of M_x, M_y for the edge y=b to the Command Window 
disp(‘For the edge y = b:’) 
disp([‘M_x =’ char(simplify(subs(eqI,y,b)))]) 
disp([‘M_y =’ char(simplify(subs(eqII,y,b)))]) 
disp(‘ ’) 
else 
disp(‘The deflection function does not satisfy Equation (7.20)’) 
disp(‘ ’) 
end 
The Command Window outputs resulting from this MATLAB file are as follows. The 
deflection function is valid 
For the edge x = 0: 
M_x = (q*y*(b - y))/4 
M_y = (q*v*y*(b - y))/4 
For the edge x = a: 
M_x = (q*y*(b - y))/4 
M_y = (q*v*y*(b - y))/4 
For the edge y = 0: 
M_x = (q*v*x*(a - x))/4 
M_y = (q*x*(a - x))/4 
For the edge y = b: 
M_x = (q*v*x*(a - x))/4 
M_y = (q*x*(a - x))/4 
 

1
 
EXP NO:4  DATE: 

 
 
Calculate column buckling load 
 
 
 

VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT DEFINITION: 

A column of length 1 m has the cross-section shown in Fig. If the ends of the column are
pinned and free to warp,Use MATLAB to calculate its buckling load; E = 70,000 N/mm​2​ ,
G= 30,000 N/mm​2​ . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1
PROGRAMMATIC SOLUTION/OUTPUT: 
The value of the critical buckling load is obtained through the following MATLAB file: 
% Declare any needed variables 
syms P 
L = 1000; 
t = 2; 
E = 70000; 
G = 30000; 
y_s = 0; 
x_s = -76.2; 
A = 600; 
I_xx = 1.17e6; 
I_yy = 0.67e6; 
I_0 = 5.32e6; 
J = 800; 
T = 2488e6; 
% Evaluate Eq.(8.77) 
P_CRyy = pi^2*E*I_yy/L^2; 
P_CRxx = pi^2*E*I_xx/L^2; 
P_CRtheta = A*(G*J þ pi^2*E*T/L^2)/I_0; 
% Substitute results of Eq. (8.77) into Eq.(8.79) 
eq_I = det([P-P_CRxx -P*x_s; -P*x_s I_0*(P-P_CRtheta)/A]); 
% Solve eq_I for the critical buckling load (P) 
P = solve(eq_I,P); 
% Output the minimum value of P to the Command Window 
disp([‘P =’ num2str(min(double(P))) ‘N’]) 
298 CHAPTER 8 Columns 
The Command Window output resulting from this MATLAB file is as follows: 
P = 167785.096 N 
 
 
 
 
1
 

1
 
 
 
EXP NO:5  DATE: 

 
 
Determine the number of cycles to failure of the infinite plate 
 
 
 

VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT DEFINITION: 

An infinite plate contains a crack having an initial length of 0.2 mm and is subjected to a
cyclic repeated stress range of 175 N/mm​2​ . If the fracture toughness of the plate is 1708
N/mm​3/2 ​and the rate of crack growth is 40 1015 (DK) 4​​ mm/cycle,Use MATLAB to
determine the number of cycles to failure 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1
PROGRAMMATIC SOLUTION/OUTPUT: 
The number of cycles to failure for each case is obtained through the following MATLAB 
file: 
% Declare any needed variables 
a_i = [0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4]; 
alpha = 1; 
K = 1708; 
S = 175; 
C = 40e-15; 
n = 4; 
% Calculate a_f using Eq. (15.30) 
a_f = K^2/(pi*S^2*alpha^2); 
% Calculate the number of cycles using Eq. (15.44) 
N_f = 2/(C*(n-2)*(S*sqrt(pi))^n)*(1./a_i.^((n-2)/2) - 1/a_f^((n-2)/2)); 
% Output the results for each case to the Command Window 
for i=1:1:length(a_i) 
disp([‘For a_i =’ num2str(a_i(i)) ‘m: N_f =’ num2str(round(N_f(i))) ‘cycles’]) 
disp(‘ ’) 
end 
15.5 Crack propagation 477 
The Command Window outputs resulting from this MATLAB file are as follows: 
For a_i = 0.1 m: N_f = 26919 cycles 
For a_i = 0.2 m: N_f = 13415 cycles 
For a_i = 0.3 m: N_f = 8914 cycles 
For a_i = 0.4 m: N_f = 6663 cycles