Airplane wing skeleton structural efficiency optimisation

• Autor(a) principal: Pereira, André das Neves
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/41042
• topic: Aeronautical engineering; Finite element analysis; Optimisation; Parametric studies; Structural analysis

One way to improve the energy efficiency of an aircraft is by optimising its structural efficiency, i.e. optimising the structure so that, while maintaining the necessary structural strength, the structural weight of the aircraft can be reduced, thus increasing its payload capacity, and/or range. The current work aimed to develop a framework that makes it possible to conduct extensive parametric optimisation studies on an airplane wing’s skeleton, keeping the wing loft constant. A global finite element model generator (WinG3N) transformed the task of creating a wing finite element model, reducing the time required from about one week to a few seconds after inputing the desired geometry. This tool enables the assessment of the impact of each relevant design parameter on the wing’s structural efficiency and ultimately facilitates the creation of a wing model featuring significant structural efficiency gains. The assessed variables included rib spacing, stringer spacing, stringer cross section (inertia), panel stiffening ratio, the chordwise positioning of the wing spars as a percentage of chord, and also the effect of the wing’s external geometry parameters such as taper and sweep. Studies were also carried out on modelling methodologies, involving mesh size and loading approach, including linear static, linear buckling and modal analyses. After several tries, a suitable structural efficiency figure of merit has been adopted. Results have shown that the parameters with more impact on the wing structural efficiency are stringer spacing, panel stiffening ratio, and stringer cross section. Finally, the structural efficiency has been enhanced in 116% with respect to the baseline wing skeleton by optimising the aforementioned variables, clearly showing the potential of the devised parametric optimisation approach in the wing skeleton design.