GENERATIVE DESIGN ON AEROPLANE WING TO INCREASE

STRUCTURAL STABILITY

J Component – Review 2
MEE 3502
Design Process Planning and Management
Winter Semester 2020 - 2021

Submitted to
School of Mechanical Engineering
VIT University, Vellore – 632 014

By
18BEM0006 TARUN
18BME2012 M D ARUN ABISHEK
18BME2020 SRUJESHWARAN TK

Faculty In-charge
Prof. VENKATESAN K
( SMEC, VIT University)
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project entitled “GENERATIVE
DESIGN ON AEROPLANE WING TO INCREASE
STRUCTURAL STABILITY” submitted by A Tarun, M D
Arun Abishek and Srujeshwaran TK of VIT University,
Vellore for the completion of the course “Design Process
Planning and management”, is a record of bonafide work
carried out by them under my supervision, as per the VIT
code of academic and research ethics. The contents of this
report have not been submitted and will not be submitted
either in part or in full, for the award of any other course or
diploma in this institute or any other institute or university.
The project fulfils the requirements and regulations of the
University and in my opinion meets the necessary standards
for submission.

Place: Vellore
Signature of the Guide
Date: 08/06/2021 (Prof. Venkatesan K)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With immense pleasure and deep sense of gratitude, we wish
to express our sincere thanks to our supervisor
Prof.Venkatesan K, SMEC, VIT University, without his
motivation and continuous encouragement, this project would
not have been successfully completed.
We are grateful to the Chancellor of VIT University, Dr.
G.Viswanathan, the Vice Presidents, and the Vice Chancellor
for motivating us to carry out the project in the VIT
University and also for providing us with infrastructural
facilities and many other resources needed for this project.
We express our sincere thanks to Dr. Vasudevan R , SMEC,
VIT University for his kind words of support and
encouragement. We would like to acknowledge the support
rendered by our colleagues in several ways throughout our
project work.
Place: Vellore A TARUN
Date: 08/06/2021 M D ARUN ABISHEK
SRUJESHWARAN TK
 CONTENTS
S.NO TOPIC PAGE
1 Abstract 5

2 Introduction 5
3 Background 6
4 Objective 6
5 Design 6
6 Load and Constrain 8
7 Materials 8
8 Design and Study 8
Generation
9 Pros and Cons 9
10 Initialising and 10
designing
11 Generative model 11
study setup
12 Preview and generate 14
process
13 Outcome, 15
exploration and
design finalisation
14 Conclusion 16
15 References 16
 ABSTRACT
The main objective of this work aims at weight reduction of a Radio
Controlled (RC) plane’s wing rib. By this there will be an increase in
the flight time and better payload carrying capacity of the plane. The
prime focus in this work is to reduce the weight of the plane. The
airfoil design was NACA 4415. The total wingspan was taken as 2 m.
There are 7 ribs in the wing outside the fuselage. The whole wing is
covered by a plastic monokote covering. It also consists of two
hollow aluminium spar passing through the rib made of polylactic
acid (PLA) and is of a thickness of 4 mm. By reducing the mass of the
ribs, it is possible to carry a much heavier payload without
compromising the strength of the wing. After which the required
forces acting on the plane rib and the pressures acting on the surface
of the rib is determined. The forces are applied and then a generative
design study is done on the rib using Autodesk Fusion 360 to find the
best design result.

INTRODUCTION
The primary structure of an aircraft wing comprises a number of
generically similar parts: stringers, ribs, spars, access panels, etc.,
which are designed according to a systematic design philosophy and
yet each part is unique due to local geometric constraints and applied
loads. In this paper only the spar and ribs are contained and the
surface is covered with monokote. The wing ribs are structural
elements of the airplane; with the longeron they form the skeleton for
the wing skin where their functions are to maintain its shape. The ribs
do not participate in the strength of the aircraft as a whole, but
transmit the forces encountered by the skin to the longeron. They are
subjected to loading systems. External loads applied in the plane of
the rib produce a change in shear force in the wing across the rib. The
geometry may also include holes to reduce the weight of the wing
without altering its strength. The ribs are cut to allow to fuels or
equipment to pass through it. In this paper the wing rib of a light
aircraft are analysed with different cut-outs design. The design of a
new wing rib requires stress analysis. In engineering, stress analysis is
a tool rather than a goal; the aim is to determine the stress and to
predict the failure in materials subjected to forces or increase the
strength of the structure without increasing the weight. Stress analysis
can be performed using conventional and analytical mathematical
techniques, an experimental testing or computational simulation. In
this paper computational method is used.
BACKGROUND
The aircraft industry, like others, faces considerable commercial
pressures with market demands of ever improving performance and
ever reducing costs and time scales for delivery. Significant
commercial advantage can be gained by delivering the right product
to the market at the right time ahead of one's competitors. These
pressures are squeezing the preliminary design and development
programmes for new aircraft projects, both on cost and timescales,
whilst demanding right-first-time innovative solutions.

OBJECTIVES
This paper aims at achieving the undermentioned objectives-
 Reducing weight of the aircraft without compromising the
structure.
 To improve the Factor of Safety

DESIGN
Model
Initial design of the wing is developed using xflr5 and CAD model is
made in Fusion 360 using the dimensions made in XFLR5.
 LOAD AND CONSTRAINTS

Two different load cases have been selected.

 One is along the direction of gravity and other is perpendicular
to direction of gravity.
 The forces taken is horizontal direction is taken as 100N while
force acting on vertical direction is taken as 150 N.

MATERIALS

The Spar selected is aluminium and the ribs of the wing are polylactic
acid
Manufacturing Process is selected as Unrestricted.

DESIGN AND STUDY GENERATION

The generative option provides multiple outcomes for the given

constraints. The outcomes vary from one to another. The best possible
outcome is selected from the generated iterations.
 PROS AND CONS
Pros:
Decrease in total mass
Structural Stability is improved for the wing.
Stiffness and Safety of factor is maintained.
Cons:
Manufacturing cost is increased.
Computing time is expensive
 INITIALISING AND DESIGINING

The aeroplane air foil has been designed at the initial stages, which
will be used for the process of generative design. The initial design
includes all the parameters that are necessary for the generation of the
air foil such as the preserve geometry, geometry where the obstacle
should not pass and the initial starting shape for the purpose of
duplication. These are setup for process of generative design. This
make the process simple and easily accessible.
The cross-section of the initial design is as follows-

GENERATIVE MODEL STUDY SETUP

In this study, the whole process of the generative designing and the
process outcome. This generative model study setup involves design
conditions, constraints of the structure and the load of the structure.
The force used for the constraint is 500N load at the end face of the
structure.
The force of 200N is acting at the top face of the structure.
The total mass of the air foil is 190 g
The total mass of the wing is 1.3 Kg
The properties of the material used here is-
Density = 2.6 x 10-6 kg/mm3
Young’s modulus = 70300 MPa
Poisson’s ratio = 0.33
Yield strength = 193 MPa
Ultimate Tensile Strength = 288 MPa
Thermal Conductivity = 0.138 W
Thermal expansion coefficient = 2.3 x 10-5 / C
Specific heat = 800 J/Kg.C

PREVIEW AND GENERATE PROCESS

At the start of generative process, we have entered all the constraint
values to give a final impact on the model. One can preview the
sample as well to get an idea of the design outlook. Generative design
is enabling the team to evaluate hundreds of design alternatives that
all meet objectives for VTP stiffness, stability and mass. Generative
design is helping us create a more sustainable architectural design that
better accounts for critical human factors and work conditions.
 Outcome exploration and design finalization
Variety of design criteria and materials were selected earlier for the
generative design process. So, many outcomes are available to
designers. The outcomes are compared by various factors such as
Manufacturing method, processing status, Mass, Maximum von Mises
stress, Minimum factor of safety and Maximum displacement global.
 CONCLUSION

From the Initial design and the constraints added to the process, the
various designs from the generative design process has been obtained.
From these designs, the most suitable design can be used for the air-
foil of the aeroplane in order to get the maximum structural stability.
REFERENCES

1) The anatomy of the air foil

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123973
085000088

2) Air foil – Aircraft aerodynamics

https://www.aircraftsystemstech.com/p/airfoil.html

3) Airfoil profile analysis and design optimisation

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279186627_Aerofoil_
Profile_Analysis_and_Design_Optimisation
4) Wing Structural Design For Two-Seater Trainer Aircraft
https://www.academia.edu/43077088/Wing_Structural_Design_
For_Two_Seater_Trainer_Aircraft

5) Generative design of airbus with the collaboration of autodesk

https://www.aero-mag.com/airbus-autodesk-generative-design-
aircraft-components-200120/

6) Innovation on new structure of aircraft in the perspective of

lighter and stable
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181129-the-ai-
transforming-the-way-aircraft-are-built