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Integral, Disruptive, and Multifunctional Aircraft Structures

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Revolutionizing Aircraft Materials and Processes

Abstract

The design of composite structures currently employed in commercial aircraft is closely related to their metallic counterparts. Significant changes to the conventional design philosophy are required to provide competitive solutions for next-generation aircraft. Due to the inherently large design freedom associated with composite material, this can be achieved through a rigorous integral and multifunction design approach. Three highly promising concepts are introduced in this chapter:

  1. 1.

    Disbond-arrest features for adhesively bonded composite joints, which present an enabling technology for integral design solutions.

  2. 2.

    Selective stitching, to enhance the damage tolerance of integral composite structure.

  3. 3.

    Composite sandwich structures that provide the greatest design freedom to integrate structural as well as nonstructural functionalities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Where “U” stands for unstitched, “T” for tufting, “BS” for blind stitching, and “L”, “M,” and “H” for low, medium, and high stitching densities, respectively. The stitching thread materials used are represented by the letters “A” (aramid) and “C” (carbon).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Aircraft Design, Stuttgart, Germany

    Ronny Sachse, Daniel Fernandez, Yves Klett & Peter Middendorf

Authors
  1. Ronny Sachse
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  2. Daniel Fernandez
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  3. Yves Klett
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  4. Peter Middendorf
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ronny Sachse .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Patras, Greece

    Spiros Pantelakis

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Patras, Greece

    Konstantinos Tserpes

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Sachse, R., Fernandez, D., Klett, Y., Middendorf, P. (2020). Integral, Disruptive, and Multifunctional Aircraft Structures. In: Pantelakis, S., Tserpes, K. (eds) Revolutionizing Aircraft Materials and Processes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35346-9_7

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