G. Bazerque, B. Béral

The use of composite materials in civil aircraft structures is implemented gradually in order to guarantee the safety of aircraft structures at all times. The first structures introduced were not very heavily loaded parts, such as fairings or landing gear door. Then more ambitious parts were installed, now reaching 15 to 20% of the structural weight on modem aircraft. Parts such as moving surfaces or fins are naturally envisaged in composite materials for future programs. Fortified by the experience and confidence acquired to date in the field of composite materials, aircraft manufacturers are proposing very large, very heavily loaded structures, such as fuselages and wings. This paper describes a study performed on a centre wing box in composite material. It is developed in the framework of the TANGO project, partially funded by the European Union under the Key Action Aeronautics of the GROWTH RTD programme (Technology Application to Near-term Business Goals and Objectives). Partners involved in this project are BADS CASA (Spain), EADS AIRBUS SA (France), HUREL-DUBOIS (France), CEAT (France) and CADTECH (Spain). This very ambitious objective is motivated by the preliminary results achieved by each of the aeronautical industrialists in the framework of research programs. Lot of studies and tests on subcomponents are considered as the starting point for the design and the sizing of the structure studied in this project. However, there is still a long way to go, and a demonstration phase on full-scale structure is essential. Aircraft manufacturers have never envisaged this type of structure in composite material and this project constitutes a real technological step forward for the introduction of composite applications on future aircraft.

19th European Conference on Materials for Aerospace Applications, Munich, Germany, 2000

Book Chapter

englisch

14,8 x 21,0 cm, 7 Seiten

DGLR-Bericht, 2001, 2001-02, Advanced Aerospace Materials - Proceedings 2000 ; S.53-59; 2001; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V., Bonn

NA

composite materials, structural design, aeronautics

Bibliothek

2001