EMANs Aeronautics Projects Report:

EMAN AEROSPACE 2020

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING CHALLENGE
Design and analysis of a fuselage section

Presented by:
 BOUZLAFA SANAE
 KHALDI MOHAMMED
 BRAHIMI HAMZA
 JETTIOUI ABDERRAHIM
 EZZAROUAL TAOUFIK
 KERDADI MOUNTASSIR
 CHERGUI HASSAN

Supervised by:
 Sir M.AKERDAD
 Sir I. ELMRABTI
 Context:

Since its creation, the airplane has conquered the world to become an essential means of transportation.
First used as a war machine during the two World Wars, it was quickly transformed into an airliner.
Always more powerful, faster, larger and more numerous, airplanes have not finished evolving. But
today, in an area where ecology is raging, sustainable development is becoming a major factor. The
objective now is to reduce fuel consumption and therefore the emission of polluting gases from aircrafts
as much as possible, and the easiest way to reduce the fuel consumption of an aircraft is to reduce its
weight.

The development phases have a different nomenclature and definition for each aircraft but they are very
similar. For the system analysis, there is a series of interdependent variables, to define the structure, it is
necessary to know the applied loads; to calculate the applied loads, it is necessary to know the mass
distribution; to calculate the mass distribution, it is necessary to know the structure definition. Since the
main task of structural analysis is to ensure integrity, knowledge of material properties is essential. The
majority of materials used in aeronautics are still metallic, despite the availability of composite materials
in the mid-seventies. The ease of fabrication and repair of metallic materials as well as their low cost
make them a popular choice over composites. Materials and their processing have always been one of
the key factors in the development of aircrafts and aircraft equipment. They have largely contributed to
the considerable progress made in the reliability and performance of aeronautical structures, in terms of
strength, weight and durability. This forward march is not finished yet, even if the way now seems
narrower, especially when the economic aspect is integrated to the purely technical considerations. The
structural analyst must ensure the safety of each and every aircraft produced, while ensuring their
commercial viability. The ultimate goal of the structural analyst is to create the lightest possible
structure that can support the highest payload. The finite element tool remains the most reliable and
accurate tool. It should be used in the design phase to estimate a weight more accurately. The generation
of finite element models remains a time consuming task in the study.
 Problematic:

The fuselage is one of the components that are subjected to a variety of loads, one of which can cause
structural failure of the materials used in this application. This type of loading is due to the cyclic
pressurization and depressurization of the fuselage. This is done during takeoff and landing to ensure the
comfort of the crew and passengers. For a general purpose aircraft, traveling long distances, the flight
altitude is up to 35,000 ft which has an atmospheric pressure of (23.9 kPa), the cabin pressure must be
pressurized to sea level, which is 101,325 kPa. This loading and unloading constant causes structural
failure in the material which is one of the main reasons for the failure of the aircraft fuselage. Therefore,
the selection of appropriate materials is crucial and critical.

Weight reduction is one of the issues in the aviation industry. When a fully loaded aircraft takes off,
only about 20% of its total weight is payload. Of the remaining 80%, about half is the aircraft's empty
weight and half is fuel. Therefore, any savings in structural weight can result in a corresponding increase
in payload. Alternatively, for a given payload, a saving in aircraft weight means a reduction in power
requirements. It is therefore not surprising that the aircraft manufacturer is willing to invest heavily in
weight reduction.

On the other hand, the fuselage is one of the most expensive and complicated systems in an aircraft, and
cost savings must be essential to survive in today's highly competitive market, so there is a great need
for engineering effort to reduce the overall cost of manufacturing.
 List of Figures :
Figure 1: Structure designer functions (compromise with other groups) ...................................................................1
Figure 2: The fuselages components[2]. .....................................................................................................................3
Figure 3: The fuselages components [1]. ....................................................................................................................4
Figure 4: Examples of trellis structures[3]. ................................................................................................................4
Figure 5: Example of a geodesic structure[3]. ............................................................................................................4
Figure 6: Monocoque structure [1]. ............................................................................................................................5
Figure 7: Example of a monocoque construction [3]. ................................................................................................5
Figure 8: Semi-monocoque structure [1]. ...................................................................................................................6
Figure 9:Example of a semi-monocoque construction [1]..........................................................................................6
Figure 10: The components of the fuselage. ...............................................................................................................8
Figure 11: Z-stringer [2]…………………………………………………………………………………………….9
Figure 12: J- stringer [2]……………………………………………………………………………………………9
Figure 13: Y- stringer [2]............................................................................................................................................9
Figure 14: I- stringer [2]……………………………………………………………………………………………10
Figure 15: Hat Stringer [2]…………………………………………………………………………………………10
Figure 16: Z- stringer [2]. .........................................................................................................................................10
Figure 17: Closed Hat Stringer [2]………………………………………………………………………………...10
Figure 18: Open Hat Stringer [2]. .............................................................................................................................10
Figure 19: Z- frame [2]…………………………………………………………………………………………….10
Figure 20: C- frame [2]…………………………………………………………………………………………….10
Figure 21: I- frame [2]. .............................................................................................................................................10
Figure 22: T-floor [2]……………………………………………………………………………………………....11
Figure 23: I-floor [2]……………………………………………………………………………………………….11
Figure 24: Z-floor [2]. ..............................................................................................................................................11
Figure 25: Initial Buckling ( skin Buckling) [2]……………………………………………………………………12
Figure 26: Flexural Instability ( Euler Mode) [2]. ..................................................................................................112
Figure 27: Torsional Instability [2]………………………………………………………………………………..12
Figure 28: Flexural and Torsional Instability [2]....................................................................................................112
Figure 29: Inter-Rivet Buckling [2]………………………………………………………………………………..13
Figure 30: Skin wrinkling [2]. ..................................................................................................................................13
Figure 31: Typical Failure Modes of a Splice Joint [7]. ...........................................................................................16
Figure 32: Excessive Stress Due to Eccentricity [7].................................................................................................17
Figure 33: Supported Joints [7]. ...............................................................................................................................18
Figure 34: Fuselage Stringer Splice (Continuous Skin) [7]. .....................................................................................18
Figure 35: Countersunk Fastener Knife Edge [7]. ....................................................................................................19
Figure 36: Fastener Symbol Code. ...........................................................................................................................19
Figure 37: Initial classification of the PCE techniques [8]. ......................................................................................24
Figure 38: The correlation between weight and unit manufacturing cost of the different products [9]. ..................25

List of tables :
Tableau 1: The advantages and disadvantages of the fuselage structures. .................................................................7
Tableau 2: Mechanical properties of Aluminum. .....................................................................................................13
Tableau 3: Mechanical properties of T300/QY8911 unidirectional laminates [6]. ..................................................15
Tableau 4: Fastener characteristics comparison[2]. ..................................................................................................20
Tableau 5: Conventional rivet material characteristics and usage [2]. .....................................................................22
Tableau 6: Summary of the models and the results [10]. .........................................................................................23
Tableau 7: Development costs [7]. ...........................................................................................................................23
 Summary:
General introduction: ..................................................................................................................................................1
CHAPTER I: The state of the art of the fuselage ............................................................................................2
I. Study of the fuselage: .....................................................................................................................................3
1. Fuselage definition: ....................................................................................................................................3
2. Types of fuselage structure: ........................................................................................................................4
a) Trellis structure: ......................................................................................................................................4
b) Geodesic structure: .................................................................................................................................4
c) Monocoque Structure:............................................................................................................................5
d) Structure semi monocoque: ....................................................................................................................6
3. Comparison between the different fuselage structures : .............................................................................7
4. The fuselage components and the loads it is subjected to: .........................................................................8
a) The stringer: ............................................................................................................................................8
b) The frames: .............................................................................................................................................8
c) The skin: .................................................................................................................................................9
d) The longerons: ........................................................................................................................................9
e) Bulkheads: ..............................................................................................................................................9
5. The types of sections used for each component of the fuselage: ................................................................9
a) For stringer: ............................................................................................................................................9
b) For Frame: ............................................................................................................................................10
c) For Floor: ..............................................................................................................................................10
6. Examples of possible failures: ..................................................................................................................11
II. The materials used in the fuselage: ...............................................................................................................12
a) Aluminum and its alloys: ......................................................................................................................12
b) The composites materials: ....................................................................................................................13
c) Titanium alloys: ....................................................................................................................................15
III. Types of fasteners: ........................................................................................................................................16
1. The general design requirements for joints: .............................................................................................17
2. Fastener characteristics comparison: ........................................................................................................20
3. Rivets (permanent fasteners): ...................................................................................................................21
a) Advantages: ..........................................................................................................................................21
b) Disadvantages: ......................................................................................................................................21
IV. Optimization of the weight and cost of the fuselage design: ....................................................................22
1. Proposal of solutions to reduce the weight: ..............................................................................................22
a) Use the composite laminate for the fuselage skin:................................................................................23
2. Propose solutions for more efficient manufacturing and cost savings: ....................................................23
3. Cost estimation: ........................................................................................................................................24
a) Intuitive Cost Estimation Techniques : .................................................................................................24
b) Analogical Cost Estimation Techniques: ..............................................................................................24
c) Parametric Cost Estimation Techniques: ..............................................................................................24
 d) Analytical Cost Estimation Techniques :..............................................................................................25
4. Weight estimation: ....................................................................................................................................25
V. Margin of Safety (MS): ................................................................................................................................25
a) For skin: ................................................................................................................................................26
b) Stringers : ..............................................................................................................................................27
c) Frames: .................................................................................................................................................28
Conclusion: ...............................................................................................................................................................29
Bibliographic references: ..........................................................................................................................................30
 General introduction:

Faced with the rapid progress of technology, the potential market is becoming more and
more competitive, which pushes designers to seek new concepts of fuselages in terms of weight
reduction and cost with the increase in performance of the aircraft (increase in payload and a
reduction in power requirements), therefore engineers must find trade-offs between the choice of
material, manufacturing cost, performance to survive in the market (see Figure 1).

The design cycle that was used for this work has four phases:

1. Pre-dimensioning.
2. Perform an analysis based on the data obtained from the first step.
3. Based on the analysis, carry out the CAD.
4. Verification by the finite element method.

The pre-dimensioning of a fuselage consists in defining the dimensions of the

important elements of the fuselage structure (skins, stringers, frames), in order to check the
behavior of the plane to the loads which it will meet during its exploitation according to very
detailed analyses, and the modeling under CATIA V5 and finally the verification of this model
by the finite element method with the ABACUS software.

Figure 1: Structure designer functions (compromise with other groups)

Figure 1: Structure designer functions (compromise with other groups)

1
 CHAPTER I:
The state of the art of the
fuselage

2
 I. Study of the fuselage:

1. Fuselage definition:

The fuselage is the barrel-shaped body of an airplane or glider that facilitates air penetration.

The fuselage is an aircraft main body structure designed to accommodate the payload carried, the
passengers, and the crew compartment.

The fuselage is the point of attachment for the wing and the tail, and frequently the landing gear.

The fuselage of a modern aircraft is a semi-monocoque construction. The semi-monocoque

structure is very efficient, has a high strength-to-weight ratio, design flexibility and can
withstand local failure without total failure due to load redistribution.

The fuselage in the form of a beam contains longitudinal elements (stringers and longerons)
transverse elements (Frames and bulkheads) and its outer skin [2].

Figure 2: The fuselages components[2].

3
 2. Types of fuselage structure:
As with most other parts of the aircraft, the shape of the fuselage is a compromise between
the use of the aircraft and the aerodynamic laws that define flight.
a) Trellis structure:

The elements constituting the trellis construction are generally made of tubes connected to
each other by welding [1] and [3]. The longitudinal elements are called stringers, the
transverse reinforcements are called crossbeams. The covering is fabric, which does not
contribute to the strength of the airframe but ensures a better aerodynamic flow.

Figure 3: The fuselages components [1].

Example of lattice construction:

Figure 4: Examples of trellis structures[3].

b) Geodesic structure:

Designed by the engineer Barnes Wallis, the geodesic structure was used by the manufacturer
Vickers, between the two world wars and during the second war [1] and [3]. The fuselage is built
from grooved beams, made of aluminum alloy (duralumin) and which form a large trellis. This
type of construction evolved to become the monocoque construction.

Figure 5: Example of a geodesic structure[3].

4
 c) Monocoque Structure:

The word monocoque comes from the Greek mono (single) and the French coque (shell) [1] and
[3]. When the structure is said to be monocoque, the covering participates in the transmission of
forces. This covering is then qualified as a worker. It is fixed to frames, or vertical partitions, by
gluing, riveting or screwing.

The frames are structural elements perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. They
give the shape of a section of the fuselage perpendicular to this axis.

A good way to visualize a monocoque structure is to fold a sheet of paper into a cylinder and
glue the free edge using something like tape. Although the resulting structure is rigid in bending,
this will reveal its greatest weakness - structural instability. A monocoque structure has a great
tendency to buckle, which is easily demonstrated by a person standing on an empty aluminum
beverage can. The empty can support a grown man, but push the side with a pencil with the
person standing on it and the can will be compressed in a flash. This instability requires the
addition of an internal support structure that resists these failure modes hence the need for the
unibody structure.

Figure 6: Monocoque structure [1].

Example of monocoque construction:

Figure 7: Example of a monocoque construction [3].

5
 d) Structure semi monocoque:

The semi-monocoque structure is used to optimize the thickness of the skin, while ensuring the
transmission of forces a) [1] and [3]. In this case, longitudinal reinforcements, also called stringers,
are fixed to the frames.

When the spacing between the stringers is large, rails are inserted between them to ensure good
support of the skin.

This construction is the most common for aircraft, for example for commercial Airbus or Boeing.

Figure 8: Semi-monocoque structure [1].

Example of semi-monocoque construction:

Figure 9:Example of a semi-monocoque construction [1].

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3. Comparison between the different fuselage structures :

Tableau 1: The advantages and disadvantages of the fuselage structures.

Type of structure Advantages Disadvantages

 This type of  High torsional
Trellis structure construction is used on flexibility, which can
some small aircraft lead to critical
because it is very light vibrations.

 A great solidity for a  Do not easily

Geodesic structure weak mass withstand cabin
 It allows by pressurization
transferring the loads
on the perimeter of
the cell to keep the
interior completely
free of structural
elements.
 light, ultra-durable.

 Rigid in flexion  The structural

Monocoque structure  Light instability

 The parts are of  Its main drawback is

Semi-monocoque structure smaller dimensions. that it is a bit heavy
 Increases the rigidity
and strength of the
structure
 Supports the loads of
the pressurization
 The fuselage can be
built in several
sections, assembled
in parallel (for
example, for the
A380 airbus, in
different countries),
then all assembled on
the final assembly
site
 In case of a skin tear,
the proximity of the
frames, spars and
stringers ensures
good resistance and
facilitates the repair.

7
4. The fuselage components and the loads it is subjected to:

Bulkhead Stringer

Floor Skin

Longeron Frame

Figure 10: The components of the fuselage.

a) The stringer:
The stringer is a stiffening element that supports a section of the load-carrying skin, to prevent
buckling under compression or shear loads. ...
In the fuselage [2], stringers are attached to frames and run in the longitudinal direction of the
aircraft.
The stringers support axial loads induced by the bending moment.

b) The frames:

Frames are primarily used to maintain the shape of the fuselage and to reduce the column length
of the stringers to prevent overall instability of the structure [2]. Frame loads are generally low
and often tend to balance, and therefore frames are generally of lightweight construction.
Frames distribute externally and internally applied loads across the body, redistribute shear
around structural discontinuities, and transfer loads at major joints.

The frames act as circumferential tear strips to provide a fail-safe design against skin crack
propagation.

8
 c) The skin:

The fuselage skin is the most critical structure as it bears all the primary loads due to fuselage
bending, shear, torsion and cabin pressure [2].

d) The longerons:

The longerons support most of the bending moment of the fuselage, loaded by the axial forces
resulting from bending [2].
The longerons are almost always attached to the frames or struts, unlike the stringers which are
often not attached to anything other than the skin, where they support part of the bending
moment of the fuselage by axial loading.

e) Bulkheads:

Bulkheads are provided at the points of introduction of concentrated forces such as those from
the wings, tail surfaces and landing gear [2]. Unlike the frames, the Bulkhead structure is quite
large and serves to distribute the load applied in the fuselage skins.

5. The types of sections used for each component of the fuselage:

a) For stringer:

 The Z-stringer [Fig. 11] and J-stringer [Fig. 12] are the most popular configurations utilized in recent
transport structural design, especially the Z-stringer due to its high structural efficiency
 The Z cross section has better moment of inertia for less area.
 The J-stringer is not as efficient as Z-stringer but it has good fail-safe characteristics due to the double
row of fasteners attaching the stringer to the skin
 The J-stringer is also used to splice span wise wing skins or fuselage longitudinal skin joints
 The Y-stringer [Fig. 13] and I-stringer [Fig. 14] are used on some transports but there is some difficulty in
attaching these stringers to rib structures in a wing box
 The Y-stringer has the highest structural efficiency but the problem of corrosion in areas where inspection
is very difficult has limited its use
 The hat-stringer [Fig. 15] is generally not acceptable because it has the same corrosion inspection
problem as the Y-stringer but it could be used on upper wing surfaces as a fuel tank vent passage as well
as a load-carrying member
 The Z-stringer [Fig. 16] and open hat stringer [Fig. 17] are frequently seen on existing aircraft fuselage
construction
 The closed hat stringer [Fig. 18] has high structural efficiency but is not acceptable due to the corrosion
inspection problem (see Ref (2)).

Figure 11: Z-stringer [2]. Figure 12: J- stringer [2]. Figure 13: Y- stringer [2].

9
 Figure 14: I- stringer [2]. Figure 15: Hat Stringer [2]. Figure 16: Z- stringer [2].

Figure 17: Closed Hat Stringer [2]. Figure 18: Open Hat Stringer [2].

b) For Frame:

Fuselage frames perform many diverse functions such as:

 Support shell (fuselage skin—stringer panels) compression/shear
 Distribute concentrated loads
 Fail-safe (crack stoppers)

They hold the fuselage cross-section to contour shape and limit the column length of longerons or stringers.
Frames also act as circumferential tear strips to ensure fail-safe design against skin crack propagation. ln
addition, they distribute externally and internally applied loads onto the shell, redistribute shear around
structural discontinuities, and transfer loads at major joints.
The frame cap is usually a Z-section which runs around the periphery inside the stringers. In the shell area
between stringers the cap is attached to the skin by means of an angle or clip (see Ref (2)).

.
Figure 19: Z- frame [2]. Figure 20: C- frame [2]. Figure 21: I- frame [2].

c) For Floor:

Frames distribute externally and internally applied loads across the body, redistribute shear
around structural discontinuities, and transfer loads at major joints.
The frames act as circumferential tear strips to provide a fail-safe design against skin crack
propagation.
10
 Figure 22: T-floor [2]. Figure 23: I-floor [2]. Figure 24: Z-floor [2].

6. Examples of possible failures:

The failure modes of a skin-stringer panel:

Figure 25: Initial Buckling ( skin Buckling) [2]. Figure 26: Flexural Instability ( Euler Mode) [2].

Figure 27: Torsional Instability [2]. Figure 28: Flexural and Torsional Instability [2].

11
 Figure 29: Inter-Rivet Buckling [2]. Figure 30: Skin wrinkling [2].

II. The materials used in the fuselage:

Materials used in the aerospace industry are constantly improving in terms of performance
(mechanical strength, temperature capability, low density), process control and cost reduction.
New tools for the design of innovative materials are now more and more available, which
suggests further significant progress in achieving objective specifications that we would not
have even imagined twenty years ago: materials have not finished surprising us.

a) Aluminum and its alloys:

In fact, aluminum alloys have new grades that perform better than aluminum [5]. And as it has
been agreed one has to choose between a thermoset or thermoplastic composite. But the question
that arises is the choice between the composite and the aluminum alloy. For that and seen the
increasing part taken by composites in the fuselages what allows, in the first place, a significant
gain of mass. The designers have developed new grades of aluminum alloys with lowered
density

by adding lithium, by integrating the lessons of the past and the disadvantages of the 1st
generation lithium alloys of the 1980s which were very prejudicial to their development (see
comparison of aluminium alloys with lithium) [4].

12
Aluminum alloys have favorable intrinsic properties such as

 Electrical conductivity.
 Tolerance to damage.
 Plasticizing ability.
 The assembly by welding in particular in
friction stirring.
 the good mechanical behavior during their
service

However, it is unfavorable for:

 The cost.
 Reparability.
 Recycling.
 Industrial production capacity.

Tableau 2: Mechanical properties of Aluminum.

Material Al-2024-T3 Al-7075-T6 Al-7150-T77511

Density (kg/m3) 2760 2794 2823

Modulus of 66.33 71.02 71.02

Elasticity (GPa)
Poisson's Ratio 0.33 0.35 0.35

Yield 243 362 538

Modulus(MPa)
Enhanced 826.7 1001.8 679
Modulus(MPa)

Maximum strain 0.1463 0.0449 0.07

b) The composites materials:

In fact, composite materials have advantages that can be summarized as follows

 Lightness of these materials, which translates into a huge gain in the weight
of the aircraft structure which is significantly reduced. The aircraft therefore
consumes less fuel.
 Insensitivity to the reaction of chemical products such as oils,
hydraulic fluids...
 Assurance of ease of reproduction during a reduced time, unlike metallic
materials whose prices increase dramatically with time.
 Creation of these types of materials in all shapes and thicknesses
according to the demand. As a result, they currently offer great
13
 possibilities
 They deform less according to temperature and pressure which is one of the
big issues of materials used in commercial aviation. They are not very
sensitive to humidity, heat, corrosion... [5].

On the other hand, they have the following disadvantages

 A much greater sensitivity to impacts, i.e. a small fault can cause large
deformations..
 A much more complex implementation of repairs

 As well as an important cost price: more expensive than the

traditional metallic materials.

14
Tableau 3: Mechanical properties of T300/QY8911 unidirectional laminates [6].

Parameter Value Description

kg/m3 1570 Density

E1, GPa 135 Young’s modulus –

longitudinal direction
E2, GPa 8.8 Young’s modulus –
Transverse direction

12, GPa 0.2 Poisson’s ratio

G12, GPa 4.47 Shear modulus of elasticity

Xt, MPa 1548 Longitudinal tensile strength

Xc, MPa 1226 Longitudinal compressive
Strength
Yt, MPa 55.5 Transverse tensile strength

Yc, MPa 218 Transverse compressive

Strength
S12, MPa 89.9 Shear strength

c) Titanium alloys:
Composite materials have many advantages, among them: [7]:

 Density = 0.16 lb/in. 3; SE= 981

 Good structural efficiencies and cryogenic temperature resistance
 Lightweight and corrosion resistant
 Can be formed, machined and welded
 Good toughness
 Ti-6Al-4V alloys are widely used in annealed and heat treated forms
 Ti-5AJ-2.5Sn alloy is extremely wieldable.

However, under the disadvantages:

 More expensive than aluminum alloys

15
  For the floor:

The materials that are used for the floor is: Al-2024-T3 et Al-7150-T77511 [6].

 For the frames:

The material that is used for the frames is: Al-7075-T6

 For the skin:

T300/QY8911 composite material is only used for fuselage skin and adopts MATL59
material model [6].

Composite laminate with the near isotropic orientation (Angle 30o) and thicker Nomex
core is used for fuselage skin.

 For the stringers:

The material used for the frames is: Al-7075-T6 [6].

III. Types of fasteners:

A complete fuselage structure is manufactured from many parts. These parts are made from sheets,
extruded sections, forgings, castings, tubes, or machined shapes, which must he joined together to form
sub-assemblies. The subassemblies must then be joined together to form larger assemblies and then
finally assembled into a completed airplane. Many parts of the completed airplane must be arranged so
that they can be disassembled for shipping, inspection, repair, or replacement, and are usually joined by
bolts or rivets. ln order to facilitate the assembly and dis- assembly of the airplane, it is desirable for
such bolted or riveted connections to contain as few fasteners as possible.

Joints are the most common source of failure for airframes as well as other structures, and failures may
occur because of many factors, all of which are difficult to evaluate to an exact degree. These factors not
only affect static strength and stiffness but have a great influence on the fatigue life of the joint and the
adjacent structures. Splice joints generally fail in one of the modes shown in Fig.31.

Figure 31: Typical Failure Modes of a Splice Joint [7].

16
 1. The general design requirements for joints:
The following are the general design requirements for joints:

1. Fitting factor: 274 An ultimate fitting factor of 1.15 (per FAR 25.625) shall be used in the joint
analysis:
This factor of 1.15 shall apply to all portions of the fitting including the fastening and bearing on the
joined member
For each integral fitting, the part must be treated as a fitting up to the point at which the section
properties become typical of the member
No fitting factor need be used: For joints made under approved practices and based on comprehensive
test data With respect to any other design factors for which a larger special factor is used Joints and
Fittings [7].

2. Overall joint efficiency: It is a primary consideration that the efficiency of the joint will be equal to
or greater than that of the parent structure. One side of the joint should not be designed for maximum
efficiency at the expense of a weight and fabrication cost penalty on the other [7]. The joint should be
located at support structures such as stringers, stiffeners, bulkheads, etc. to improve joint efficiency as
shown in Fig. 33.

3. Eccentricities (unsupported joint): Moment produced by eccentricities in a joint, especially the lap
joint as shown in Fig.32, will induce excessive loading and secondary tension loads on end fasteners.
The stress on the plate is no longer uniform stress [7].

Figure 32: Excessive Stress Due to Eccentricity [7].

The excessive stress induced by eccentricity on the members of a lap joint is reduced in the plastic range
for ultimate strength design.

4. Supported joint: All airframe structural joints are supported joint designs, as shown in Fig. 33, which
provide structural integrity to reduce significant local high local stress due to eccentricity. The supported
joint is located at a stringer, stiffener, bulkhead, etc. and it always uses double or staggered rows (in
fuselage hoop tension applications triple rows may be used) of fasteners for wing fuel tank design [7].

17
 Figure 33: Supported Joints [7].

5. Joint rigidity: Insufficient or excessive rigidity of the surrounding structure may cause excessive
deflections under highly concentrated loads and consequently changes in direction and magnitude of the
loads on a joint, e.g., in structural support areas of engine pylons, landing gear, flaps, etc. [7].

6. Mixed fasteners and fits: Generally it is not good practice to use mixed fasteners and different fits on
the same joint since the tighter fit holes will start to pick up load early and the looser holes will not pick
up the load until the joint starts to deflect. This will cause premature failure of structural life. Every
fastener should be installed wet (it reduces bearing allowable compared to dry) per the specifications of
the government, industry, or the individual company [7].

7. Mixed splice materials: Joints should be strain analyzed based on the stress-strain data of the splice
and parent materials to avoid the problem of insufficient or excessive rigidity [7].

8. Fastened and bonded joint: It is difficult to determine the load distribution for a fastened and
bonded joint but the bonded area will pick up most of the load: The use of bonding on a fastened joint
will provide extra fatigue life and increased corrosion resistance at the bondline.
Provide sufficient fasteners to carry all of the static ultimate loads, as no load is carried by the bonding
[7].

9. Permanent set: Under the limit load no permanent set is allowed to occur as is the requirement for
any airframe structure [7].

10. Splices adjacent to continuous members: This joint should be designed to be as rigid as geometry
will permit using ample material and interference or tight fit fasteners to minimize slippage which might
overload the continuous members and cause premature failure. An example of this type of joint, as
shown in Fig.34, is splicing a stringer which is attached to a continuous fuselage skin (frequently used in
repair of broken stringer) [7].

Figure 34: Fuselage Stringer Splice (Continuous Skin) [7].

18
11. Fastener spacing and edge distance ( ): In normal metallic sizing, the minimum fastener spacing
(pitch) is 4D and edge distance in the direction of load is = 2.0 (D is the diameter of the fastener and e
is the distance from the center of the fastener to edge of the part plus an additional margin of 0.03 inch
for tolerance or misdrill).
Minimum edge distance, = 1.5 may be used, provided the following criteria are met: Low load transfer
such as spar or rib vertical stiffener attached to web Assume non-buckled skin [7].

12. Countersunk fastener: Since the knife or feather edge, as shown in Fig.35, is not allowed in
airframe design because of fatigue requirements, the minimum plate thickness (t) is:
t==l.5Xtd
where: t: The plate thickness.
td : Countersunk fastener head height.

Figure 35: Countersunk Fastener Knife Edge [7].

13. Adjacent skin buckling: Buckling of the skin adjacent to the splice may change the local in-plane
load distribution and introduce a prying and tension load on a critical fastener. This buckling not only
affects the static strength and stiffness of the joint but also has a great influence on the fatigue life of
both the joint and the adjacent structures as well [7].

14. Fastener symbol code: A fastener symbol system, based on the NAS 523 standard, is used on
engineering drawings. The symbol, as shown in Fig.18, consists of a single cross with code letters or
numbers in the quadrants identifying fastener features [7].

Figure 36: Fastener Symbol Code.

19
 2. Fastener characteristics comparison:
In making a fastener selection, the designer must write down all the conditions to he encountered by the overall
design. These are not specific requirements which are determined for each part but are the general ranges over
which the entire aircraft is expected to operate. Fig. 7.4.1 shows the fastener characteristics in fluencing fastener
selection.
Tableau 4: Fastener characteristics comparison[2].

Fastener Advantages Limitations

Good clamp-up Non-removable
Solid rivets High rigidity Limited static shear
Lowest cost Low tension & shear
Lowest weight Low tension fatigue
Good static & fatigue in shear joint High noise level during installation
High clamp-up Non-removable
Lockbolt High shear strength Moderate cost
High reliability Limited tensions
Low noise level during installation Low fatigue,
Moderate weight
Hi-Lok Same as Lockbolt but somewhat Same as Lockbolt but somewhat
lower cost and weight lower cost and weight
Taper-Lok Same as bockboll except Same as Lockbolt except
high joint shear fatigue high cost
capability
High rigidity
High shear rivets High shear strength Non-removable
Low cost Low clamp-up
Low weight Low tension
Poor fatigue
High noise level during installation
Blind rivets Locked spindle Low tension & shear
Moderate rigidity Poor fatigue
Low cost Moderate clamp-up
Low weight Moderate reliability
Blind installation Non-removable
Blind bolts Locked spindle Low tension
High shear strength Poor fatigue
Blind installation Moderate clamp-up
Moderate reliability
High cost
Higher weight
Non-removable
12 point High static tension High cost
tension bolt High tension fatigue High weight
High torque No flush surface
High reliability
Removable
Hexagon bolt High tension (long thread) Low tension (short thread)
High static shear Low fatigue
Low cost Moderate weight
Removable Moderate torque
No flush surface
1000Flush bolt High static shear Low tension
Low weight Low fatigue
Removable Low torque
Flush surface Moderate cost

20
After the designer determines the type of joint to be used, he then determines whether the fastener is loaded
axially or in shear. If tension fatigue is the principal load condition, items such as thread form rolled threads and
rolled head-to-shank fillets with special design tension heads are used.
For static tension loading, the same enlarged root radius threads arc not essential. For joints with incidental
tension loadings, nearly any fastener can be considered, including rivets, blind rivets, and shear head fasteners.
Shear loading requires consideration of fasteners such as bolts or swaged collar fasteners with conventional or
shear heads. Shear heads offer the higher strength-weight ratios.

3. Rivets (permanent fasteners):

Rivets are low cost, permanent fasteners well suited to automatic assembly operations. The primary reason
for riveting is low in-place cost, the sum of initial rivet cost and costs of labor and machine time to set the
rivets in the parts. Initial cost of rivets is substantially lower than that of threaded fasteners because rivets
are made in large volumes on high-speed heading machines, with little scrap loss. Assembly costs are
low. Rivets can be clinched in place by high-speed automatic machinery [2].

a) Advantages:

 Dissimilar materials, metallic or nonmetallic, in various thicknesses can be joined. Any material that can
be cold worked makes a suitable rivet.
 Rivets may have a variety of finishes such as plating, Parkerizing, or paint.
 Parts can be fastened by a rivet, if parallel surfaces exist for both the rivet clinch and there is adequate
space for the rivet driver during clinching.
 Rivets can serve as fasteners, pivot shafts, spacers, electric contacts, stops, or inserts,
 Parts that are painted or have received other finishes can be fastened by rivets [2].

b) Disadvantages:

 Tensile and fatigue strengths of rivets are lower than for comparable bolts or screws.
 High tensile loads may pull out the clinch, or severe vibrations may loosen the fastening.
 Riveted joints are normally neither watertight nor airtight; however, such joints may he attained, at added
cost, by using a sealing compound.
 Riveted parts cannot be disassembled for maintenance or replacement without destroying the rivet.
 Rivets produced in volume are not normally made with the same precision as screw-machine parts.
 Use flush ahead rivets only where:
 High aerodynamic efficiency is required, or Head clearances are inadequate; i.e. where a protruding head
might interfere with a mating part or the operation of adjacent mechanisms.
 Solid rivets and threaded collar rivets such as Hi-Loks shall not be used for the attachment of control
surface hinges, hinge brackets, or similar parts which must be readily removable. Blind rivets shall be used only
where access is limited to one side. Blind rivets shall not be used on control surface hinge brackets, wing
attachment fittings, landing gear fittings, fixed tail surface attachment fittings or similar heavily stressed locations.
Also, do not use them in the design of hulls, floats, or tanks where a fluid tight joint is required. In structural
applications, the upset head must be visible for inspection. Fig. 7.2.1 illustrates the conventional rivet material
characteristics and usage [2].

21
Tableau 5: Conventional rivet material characteristics and usage [2].

Rivet Driving Used in material Recommended use and limitations

material characteristics
1100-F Easy soft Soft aluminum, fiber, Low strength — not recommended in
Plastics large dial (1/16-1/8 inch)

5056(5) Medium Aluminum alloys Used if the strength of 5056 is adequate

and lower driving force is desirable
(3/32—3/ l 6 inch)

21 1 7-T3 Medium-hard Aluminum alloys For use in sealing application in integral

(AD) fuel tanks (1/16—5/32 inch)

2017-T3(D) Hard Aluminum alloys For general use

2024-T31 Hard Aluminum alloys High strength, limited use due to

(DD) refrigerated cond. (3/16-1/4 inch)

Monel(M) Very hard Copper alloys, steel Driving force too high for large dial
and CRES

A-286 Very hard Titanium, steel and Up to 1/4 inch dial — Used in pylon, hot
CRES areas and corrosion environment

Titanium Very hard Steel and CRES Up to 3/16 inch dia. ~ Used in hot areas
B12O(K) and corrosion environment

7075-H75 Medium-hard Aluminum alloys Do not use in fatigue critical areas

IV. Optimization of the weight and cost of the fuselage design:

1. Proposal of solutions to reduce the weight:
Reducing the weight of the structure still requires the use of lightweight materials, which is very important today.
When a plane takes off, only about 20% of its total weight is payload out of the remaining 80%, about half is the
plane's empty mass and the other half is fuel. Therefore, any economical weight structure can lead to a
corresponding increase in load. Alternatively, for a given payload, saving the aircraft weight means reducing
power requirements. It is therefore not surprising that the aircraft manufacturer is ready to invest heavily in weight
reduction.
New metal alloys and composite materials hold great promise for lighter cells with longer life and better fatigue
resistance. Such weight saving will result in a greater payload for a given takeoff weight, and therefore greater
fuel economy, and for combat aircraft, better handling. However, the acceptance of new materials will always
depend on balancing costs over the life of the aircraft and the development of new construction techniques to
make the most of the material properties.

22
 a) Use the composite laminate for the fuselage skin:

For the composite laminate analyses, the results are summarized in table 6 and showed that the thicker
the Nomex honeycomb core, Quasi-isotropic Angle 30o ,and the total laminate thickness of 15.875 mm
produced the lowest von Mises stress amongst the other composite materials for the internal cabin
pressurization under static loading. This structure has a lower mass for the fuselage section, 33.23 lbs.,
as compared to the typical metal alloys, which have a mass of 38.04 lbs. section [10].

This implies that the composite laminate with the quasiisotropic orientation (Angle 30o) and the thicker
Nomex core is the best material tested that can be used for the skin of the fuselage.

Tableau 6: Summary of the models and the results [10].

Composite Carbon fiber Core Laminate Max. Stress

laminates Sheet Thickness (MPa)
Model Orientation HexPly 8552 (mm)
AS4
1 Orientation 1 6 Sheets per Aluminum 12.7 14.3
Angle 30 Stack Hexagonal
Honeycomb
2 Orientation 2 4 Sheets per Aluminum 12.7 14.37
Angle 45 Stack Hexagonal
Honeycomb
3 Orientation 3 3 Sheets per Aluminum 12.7 17.17
Angle 0 Stack Hexagonal
Honeycomb
4 Orientation 3 3 Sheets per Nomex 12.7 16.79
Angle 0 Stack Honeycomb
5 Orientation 3 3 Sheets per Nomex 15.875 13.27
Angle 0 Stack Honeycomb
6 Orientation 1 6 Sheets per Nomex 15.875 11.31
Angle 30 Stack Honeycomb
7 Orientation 2 4 Sheets per Nomex 15.875 11.37
Angle 30 Stack Honeycomb

2. Propose solutions for more efficient manufacturing and cost savings:

Since the fuselage is one of the most expensive and complicated systems on an airplane, cost savings
must be essential to survive in today's highly competitive market where there is a great need for an effort
by engineers to reduce the overall cost of manufacturing.
The cost of developing a new transport aircraft can be divided into two broad cost categories (see Ref
(7)):

Tableau 7: Development costs [7].

(a) Coûts non récurrents (b) Coûts récurrents

Engineering Equipment
Planning Workforce
Test Quality assurance (Q.A.)

23
Recurring costs (or manufacturing costs) represent approximately 80% to 90% of the total cost. Design
for manufacturing is a very important phase in reducing manufacturing costs.

Methods of reducing costs include the following:

 Reduction of the number of pieces.

 Use standard parts and common points.
 Simplify manufacturing and assembly.
 Use proven methods.
 Allocate funds to research and development to pursue new methods.
 Relax tolerances.
 Use CAD / FAO.
 Automate manufacturing processes.

3. Cost estimation:

Good cost estimation has a direct bearing on the effectiveness of any product design phase because overestimation
can result in loss of business, whereas underestimation may lead toward financial losses. Various techniques can
be used to estimate cost; each cost estimation technique can be categorized into qualitative and quantitative as
illustrated in the diagram in Fig. 37.

Figure 37: Initial classification of the PCE techniques [8].

a) Intuitive Cost Estimation Techniques :

The intuitive cost estimation techniques are based on using the past experience. Experts’ knowledge is
systematically used to generate cost estimates for different components. This knowledge can be stored in the form
of rules in a database as an example.

b) Analogical Cost Estimation Techniques:

These techniques employ similarity criteria based on historical cost data for products with known cost, such as
regression analysis models.

c) Parametric Cost Estimation Techniques:

Parametric models are derived by applying the statistical methodologies and by expressing cost as a function of its
constituent variables. These techniques could be effective in those situations where the parameters, sometimes
known as cost drivers, could be easily identified. Parametric models are generally used to quantify the unit cost of
a given product. In the Fig. 38, a study allowed obtaining a function that determines cost knowing the weight.

24
 Figure 38: The correlation between weight and unit manufacturing cost of the different products [9].

d) Analytical Cost Estimation Techniques :

This approach requires decomposing a product into elementary units, operations, and activities that represent
different resources consumed during the production cycle and expressing the cost as a summation of all these
components. In our case, the cost will take in account raw materials of each fuselage part, manufacturing cost and
assembly cost.

4. Weight estimation:

In order to calculate the Weight of each component, we simply need the volume of the part and its material.
As for the volume, a tool like CATIA can be used after defining all dimensions of a given part. And by knowing
the material, we can use its density to calculate the weight.

V. Margin of Safety (MS):

Margin of Safety (MS) is a measure of the amount of capability or capacity that is still available in a
structure to safely accept static loads under the conditions under which they are loaded.
Unless otherwise specified, a factor of safety of 1.5 must be applied to the limit load:
 Ultimate load= 1.5 X limit load.
 The structure must be able to support ultimate loads without failure.
 The structure must be able to support limit loads without detrimental permanent deformation.
The general procedure is to design a structure to zero margin. The Margin of Safety (MS) for the stress
analysis is equal to zero or greater, but is never a negative. Follow these to calculate the MS to meet
airworthiness requirements (see Ref (7)):

1. First step - Under the ultimate load case:

where:
MS(xxx)= – 1 >= 0
F : Use capital letters to represent allowable stress (F), moment (M), load (P), etc.
f : Use small letters to represent applied ultimate stress (f), moment (m), load (p), etc. (xxx) : Option for
showing the critical condition, i.e.: Tension Compression Shear Buckling Bearing Fastener Etc.

25
 2. Second step - Check material yield conditions:
MS = -1 >= 0

where:
FYield: Use capital letters to represent allowable stress (Fcy, Fhry, etc.), moment (M), load (P), etc.
flimit: Use small letters to represent applied limit stress (f), moment (m), load (p), etc.

3. Third step - The final MS is the smallest MS from either (a) or (b):
The above mentioned MS which is based on ultimate static strength will be used unless it 1s overridden
by the following criteria:
 Adequate fatigue life for the loading spectrums
 Sufficient rigidity for the aero-elastic or dynamic considerations
 Damage tolerance

a) For skin:
We will limit our study to 3 criteria that must be satisfied for the skin of the fuselage:

 Skin panel strength check at ultimate shear load:

The equation of the safety margin in this case is written as follows:

FsALL
MS = +1 (see Ref (11))
Fs_ulitmate

( )

With: Ast = Astrg + Wp. (tp – ti ) And: Arg = Ap + Wpt. (tp – ti )

Where:
Fscr : The panel shear buckling allowable:
Kss = 6.6 (Use this value)
Ec : Compression young modulus (psi)
t : Pocket thickness (in)
b : Pocket width (in)
ve : Elastic poisson coefficient
Astg : Stringer area (in2)
Afr : Frame area (in2)
Wp : Pad-up width under stringer (in)
Wpfr : Pad-up width under frame (in)
26
tp : Pad-up thickness (in)
ts : Pocket thickness (in)
d : Frame pitch (in)
h : Stringer pitch (in)

 Skin panel check for permanent deformation at limit load:

The equation of the safety margin in this case is written as follows:
fspb
MS = -1 (see Ref (11))
fs

With:
fspb: Allowable stress for permanent buckling.

 Inter-rivet buckling check:

The equation of the safety margin in this case is written as follows:

Fcr
MS = -1 (see Ref (11))
fs

( )

Where:
= Et/E (see Ref (11))
Fs : Applied stress (axial stress + bending stress)
Fcr : The minimum of Fir and Fcy (the yield stress of skin) (psi)
Et : Tangent modulus at Fir stress (psi)
E : Young modulus in compression (psi)
p : Rivet pitch (in)
t : Local thickness (in)
C : The fixity coefficient
= 1.5 for countersunk head
= 3.0 for Mushroom head

b) Stringers:

We will limit our study to 2 criteria that must be satisfied for the skin of the fuselage:

 Check the support of stringer for panel:

The stringer must be stiff enough to provide a support to adjacent panels.

Ir Ar
2.73 x - >= 5 (see Ref (11))
3
ba.ea ba.ea
27
Where:
Ir : stringer inertia at skin neutral fiber (in4)
Ar : stringer’s Area (in^2)
ba : width of skin (in)
ea : thikness of skin pocket (in)

 Lateral instability : Check(Free Flange)

 For Zee section :

Fc
MS = -1 (see Ref (11))
f

( )

Where:

Fc: the minimum stress of free flanges account of the effect of bending moment .
f : Stress at the free-flange (Axial + bending).

c) Frames:
We will limit our study to 3 criteria that must be satisfied for the skin of the fuselage

 Outer Flange Tension :

The equation of the safety margin in this case is written as follows:

MS=(Ftuof / fof) -1 (see Ref (11))

Or: fof = +
Where:
Ftuof : Ultimate Tensile Strength of flange material
fof : Ultimate Applied outer flange Tension stress

28
 Conclusion:

Given that the fuselage is one of the most complicated systems of an aircraft, it is subjected to a variety
of loads and it supports the crew, the payload and the fuel which leads to an increase in weight and
consequently the increase in power requirements and decrease in payload where a great need for an
effort of engineers for an optimal design to survive in the highly competitive market.

Composite materials are mainly used for applications where weight reduction is desired. In addition, the
advantage of these materials lies in their anisotropy easily controlled by the designer who can thus adjust
the rigidity and resistance according to external stresses. So the immense advantage of composite
materials is that they can be optimized for each application where reinforcements can be placed exactly
when needed. This optimization results in a high performance of these materials, which are often by far
the lightest for a specified mechanical strength. As noted in the weight optimization section, the use of
composite material for the construction of the fuselage skin reduces the overall fuselage mass from
38.04 lbs to 33.23 lbs.

To improve the design of a fuselage, there are a series of interdependent variables, it is necessary to first
define the structure which requires knowledge of the applied loads, the latter requires knowledge of the
distribution of masses, which also requires knowledge of the definition of the structure and knowledge
of the properties of the materials, taking into account several criteria in order to meet the safety
standards.

29
 Bibliographic references:

[1] Scius, A. (n.d.). Etude des aéronefs et des engins spatiaux.

[2] Niu, M. C.-Y. (1988). Airframe Structural Design: Practical Design Information and Data
on Aircraft Structures.

[3] Avion, U. N. (n.d.). Structure D ’ Un Avion.

[4] N. Moës. Mécanique des milieux continus. École d‟ingénieur. Nantes, France. 2011,
pp.105.

[5] HADJEZ Fayssal . (2018). THÈSE : Structures et Matériaux utilisés en Aéronautique :

État de l’Art et Analyse de leur Déformation sous l’effet des Sollicitations Extérieures

[6] Mou, H., Zou, T., Feng, Z., & Ren, J. (2014). Crashworthiness simulation research of
fuselage section with composite skin. Procedia Engineering, 80, 59–65.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2014.09.060

[7] Niu, M. C. (1999). Airframe Stress Analysis and Sizing (2nd Ed 1999). In Press.
http://cataleg.upc.edu/record=b1240761~S1*cat

[8] Niazi, Adnan, et al. "Product cost estimation: Technique classification and methodology
review." (2006): 563-575.

[9] Cavalieri, S., Maccarrone, P., and Pinto, R., 2004, ―Parametric Vs Neural Network Models for
the Estimation of Production Costs: A Case Study in the Automotive Industry,‖ Int. J. Prod.
Econ., 91(2), pp. 165—177.

[10] Profile, S. E. E. (2019). Optimization of the Composite Airplane Fuselage for an Optimum Structural.
February. https://doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2018-88215

[11] Aerospace, E., & Information, P. (2020). AEROSPACE ENGINEERING CHALLENGE EMAN
AEROSPACE 2020 Design and Analysis of a Fuselage Section.

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