PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

LEARNING
MODULE 01:
A History of Aircraft Structures

AIRCRAFT STRUCTURE II

Prepared by:
Engr. Christian Louie Victorino

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Time
Title Page Allotment
(Hours)
A history of Aircraft Structures 3 .95
Supplemental Readings 11 .5
Activity 12 .5
Assignment 12

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

A brief history of Aircraft Structures

Aircraft have changed enormously over the last century from the early Wright
Flyer flown at Kittyhawk to the supersonic SR-71 Blackbird flown today. The
developments in aeronautical engineering can be broken down into separate divisions
that have developed at different rates: (a) aerodynamics; science that deals with the
airflow around the aircraft, (b) power plant engineering; dealing with propulsion and
engines, (c) control, radios and navigation aids, (d) airframe engineering; which
includes hydraulic systems, electrical systems, aircraft interiors; and finally (e) the
structural design.

Power plants have developed in two large steps separated by a series of

sudden burst of ingenuity. In the first successful flight, the Wright Brothers had to find
a light yet powerful engine system. The next stride was the jet engine during WWII by
Sir Frank Whittle and Hans von Ohain. The design of aerospace structures on the
other hand has only made one fundamental stride forward, but this was sufficient to
change the complete design principle of modern aircraft. Today however, the
composite era may induce further leaps in structural design.

Fig. 1. A schematic drawing of the Wright Flyer

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

Fig. 2. The modern supersonic SR-71 Blackbird

1) Wire Braced Structures

If we look at the early design of aircraft such as the Wright Flyer (Fig. 1), there
can really be no misunderstanding of the construction style. The entire aircraft were
all constructed from rectangular frames that were prevented from shearing or
collapsing by diagonally stretched wire. Two major thoughts, the idea that two parallel
wings would facilitate a lighter yet stronger structure than a single wing, and secondly,
that these two wings could be supported with two light wires rather than with a single,
thicker wooden member. The structural advantage of the biplane construction is that
the two wings, vertical struts and wires form a deep light beam, which is more resistant
to bending and twisting than a single wing.

Fig. 3. Cutaway drawing of the 1917 Sopwith Camel

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

Fig. 4. Cutaway drawing of the 1935 Hawker Hurricane

The biplane construction with wire bracing was the most notable feature of
aircraft construction for some years and paired nicely with lightweight materials such
as bamboo and spruce (Fig. 3). Early aeronautical engineers knew to take advantage
of wood’s high specific strength and stiffness. The biplane era lasted until the 1930s
at which point metal was taking over as the prime aerospace material. Wooden spars
and struts were just replaced by thinner metal tubing. There remained a striking
similarity in construction between a 1917 fighter (Fig. 3) and a 1935 fighter (Fig. 4).
“Warren Girder” design; a structure features 4 horizontal longerons supported by
vertical struts and wire bracing, can also be seen in some of earliest monoplane wing
constructions such as the 1935 Hawker Hurricane. The onset of WWII meant that
some safe and conservative design decisions were made to facilitate monoplane
wings and the “Warren Girder” principle was directly copied to the internal framework
of monoplane wings (Fig. 5). These early designs were far from optimized and
perfectly characterize the transition period between wire-frame structures and the
semi-monocoque structures we use today.

Fig. 5. The Hawker Hurricane wing construction

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

2) Semi-Monocoque Structures
Inspiration was taken from the long tradition and expertise in boat building, the
highest standards of yacht construction featured “bent wooden frames and double or
triple skins…with a clear varnished finish…and presented a much more open and
usable fuselage interior”. These techniques were thus passed on to aircraft
construction to produce newer aircraft with very smooth, aerodynamic profiles.

Fig. 6. Semi monocoque fuselage construction of an early wooden flying boat

The major advantage of this type of construction is that the outer skin of the
fuselage becomes an active load-carrying member of the structure. The structure
becomes “multifunctional” and more efficient. As a consequence, the whole structure
is generally at a uniform and lower stress level, reducing stress concentrations and
giving better fatigue life. Finally, as the majority of the material is located at the outer
surface of the structure the second and polar moments of area, and therefore the
bending and torsional rigidities are much increased. On the other hand, the thin-
skinned construction means that compression and shear buckling become the most
likely forms of failure. In order to increase the critical buckling loads the skins are
stiffened by stringers and broken up into smaller sections by spars and ribs. Because
the external skin is now a working part of the structure this type of construction became
to be known as stressed skin or semi-monocoque.

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

Fig. 7. Components of a semi monocoque wing

The adoption of the semi-monocoque construction and a change from wood to

metal naturally coincided since sheet metal production allowed a variety of thin skins
to be easily manufactured quite cheaply, with better surface finish and superior
material properties.

Fig. 8. Cutaway Drawing of the recently released A400M aircraft

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

Figure 8 shows the typical construction of a modern aircraft. There have been
numerous different structural arrangements over the past number of years but all
generally feature some sort of vertical stiffener (ribs in the wings and rings in the
fuselage) and longitudinal stiffener (called stringers). Over the years the main driver
has been towards a) a reduction in the number of rivets by reverting to bonded
assembly or ideally manufacturing separate components as a single piece and b)
understanding the effects and growth of cracks under static and fatigue loading by
building structures that can easily be inspected or have multiple redundancies (load
paths).

3) Sandwich Structures and Composite Materials

Another technique to provide more rigidity is sandwich construction. This

generally features a very lightweight core, such as a honeycomb lattice or a foam,
sandwiched between two thin yet stiff outer panels. Here the role of the sandwich core
is to carry any shear loads and separate the two skins as far as possible. The second
moment of area is a function of the cube of the depth and therefore the bending rigidity
is greatly increased with this technique. Ideally, in this manner it would be possible to
design an entire fuselage without any internal rings or stringers and the Beech Starship
is an excellent example of a successful application. However, there are problems of
forming honeycomb cores onto doubly curved shells since the material is susceptible
to strong anticlastic curvature, forming a saddle shape when bent in one direction.
Furthermore, there are problems with condensation and water ingress into the
honeycomb cells and the ability to guarantee a good bond surface between the core
and the outer skins. There is the possibility to use foam cores instead, but these tend
to be heavier with lower mechanical properties. Perhaps the current trend is away from
sandwich construction.

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

Fig. 9. A carbon fibre composite/honeycomb sandwich panel

Fig. 10. The Beech Starship

One of the major applications of honeycomb structures has been in combination

with composite materials. Stiff carbon composite panels are the ideal candidate for the
outer skins and the whole assembly. Furthermore, the incredible specific strength and
stiffness of carbon composites makes this combination an ultra-lightweight yet resilient
structure for aerospace applications. We are now at the start of the “black” carbon age
in commercial aircraft design. Apart from their excellent specific strength and stiffness
properties, composites exhibit the ability to tailor optimum mechanical properties by
orientating the majority of plies in the direction of the load and allowing for less material
waste during manufacture. The first generation of commercial aircraft that contain
large proportions of composite parts are Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350
XWB.

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

Fig. 11. Considerable delamination leading to catastrophic failure

One of the major shortcomings is that the structural advantages of fiber-

reinforced plastics must be viewed with respect to applications where the primary
loads are aligned with the fiber direction. However, if a composite plate is subjected to
significant out-of-plane stresses subsurface delamination may develop between layers
due to the weak through-thickness cohesive strength of the composite. These
intralaminar delamination are a significant problem as they are difficult to detect by
visual inspection and may reduce the compressive strength of the laminate by up to
60%.

4) Novel Designs
Apart from carbon fiber and other composites other researchers have been
looking into completely redefining the shape of aircraft. Researchers at MIT have been
developing the blended wing concept and NASA are exploring the technology
of morphing or shape-changing aircraft, taking inspiration directly from nature.

Fig. 12. Illustration of the MIT Silent Aircraft concept

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures

Fig. 13. NASA morphing wing aircraft

Supplemental readings:
• Chapter 1 of Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AWNUgOrzxtb0jq5aQG6IWbY6XsXijJ
CK?usp=sharing

• Aerospace Engineering Blog. (2012). A Brief History of Aircraft

Structures.
https://aerospaceengineeringblog.com/aircraft-structures/

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Learning Module 01: A History of Aircraft Structures
Activity No. 1
Complete the puzzle below.

2 10

Across:
1. A 1917 Fighter aircraft
2. Supersonic aircraft today
3. Achieved first successful flight
4. a structure features 4 horizontal longerons supported by vertical struts and wire bracing
5. Place of first successful flight

Down:
6. A 1935 Fighter aircraft
7.– 8. Main contributors for jet engine
9. An aircraft with an entire fuselage without any internal rings or stringers
10. Inspiration for semi-monocoque structure in aircraft

Assignment No. 1

Let’s check how well you understand the discussion so far. List at least (2) two events that
have a major effect to aircraft structures and explain how it developed advancement. Note: Use
separate word document for the assignment.

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