- Author
-
Johnson, R. W.
|
Thomson, L. W.
|
Wilson, R. D.
- Title
- Study on Utilization of Advanced Composites in Fuselage Structures of Large Transports. Final Report.
- Coporate
- Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Seattle, WA
- Sponsor
- NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
- Report
-
NASA CR 172406,
February 1985,
42 p.
- Distribution
- Available from Defense Technical Information Center LIMITED DISTRIBUTION to authorized U.S. Government agencies
- Contract
- NAS1-17417
- Keywords
-
fuselages
|
aircraft structures
|
composite materials
|
design applications
|
evaluation
|
military aircraft
|
manufacturing
- Abstract
- Several recent NASA- and DOD-sponsored programs have shown that using advanced composites in aircraft structures, especially primary structures, can result in significant weight reductions with ensuing fuel economy improvements. The potential benefits of applying composites to fuselage structure are as significant as those of applying composites to wing structure, since the wing and fuselage account for approximately equal fractions of the aircraft structural weight. Additional benefits can be realized by applying composites to fuselage structure, because weight reductions at the airplane centerline are most effective in increasing payload due to the offsetting deadweight relief effects. In addition to weight reduction, applying composites to fuselage structure will reduce fabrication costs. Relative to the other major airframe components, metal fuselage components are the most expensive per pound of structure. These high costs are due to the high part count and resulting assembly expense. In a composite fuselage shell, the part count can be reduced by approximately 20% of an aluminum shell part count by the use of cocured composite components such as skins and stringers and/or honeycomb bonded assemblies.