4.

0 AIRCRAFT STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS

4.1 Fuselage
4.1.1 General constructional features of the fuselage including doors, windows and
windscreen structures and identify load-carrying members.
4.1.2 Structural maintenance features relating to doors, door mechanisms, door safety
devices, floors, radomes, fairings, drains and vents, seats.

4.2 Nacelles and engine mounts

4.2.1 General constructional features nacelles and engine mounts’ structure and identify
load-carrying members
4.2.2 Constructional and structural maintenance features relating to the Nacelles and
engine mounts structures

4.3 Landing gear / undercarriage

4.4 Wings, empennage and stabilisers

4.4.1 General constructional features of wings, empennage and stabilisers and identify
load-carrying members
4.4.2 Structural maintenance features relating to the Wings, empennage and stabilisers.

Structures carry loads and define the shape of an object. Every equipment, components,
building, and vehicles have structures. Even humans have bones as the structures.
Similarly, aircraft structures carry load and keep the aerodynamics to minimise the drags. The aircraft in flight in equilibrium with the forces of Lift versus Weight and Thrust

Aircraft structures loads are from the flight, maneuvre, ground, cargo, and water if the versus Drag. These forces are transferred to the aircraft structure.

aircraft is designed for amphibian. The structure itself gives the dead load due to the mass
and gravity. Loads are forces to the structures and must be accounted for in the structure
design.
 All these forces are transmitted to the structures. The structures are designed to all load
conditions on the ground and inflight with the worst possible conditions and at all weight
conditions.

Table 4-1 Aircraft Components and Loads

Aircraft Loads
Structure
Components
Fuselage Weight of the Forward Fuselage
Weight of the Aft Fuselage
Weight of Engines
Weight of Tail Section
Thrust
Drag
Airload (Lift)
Ground Load - Main Gear
Ground Load - Nose Gear
Wings Weight of the wing
On the ground all the forces acting on the aircraft remain in equilibirum. Engines
Lift Drag
Maneuver Load
Stabilizer - Weight of the vertical stabilizer
Vertical Lift
Drag
Maneuver Load
Stabilizer - Weight of horizontal stabilizer
Horizontal Lif Drag
Manure Load

The structures are designed to carry multiple loads and all phases of flight. The basis of
the design will be based on the agreed v-n diagram, discussed with the authority.

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 Figure 4-5 Aircraft structure to show components2

Figure 4-4 Aircraft V-N Diagram1

4.1 Fuselage
Aircraft structures made of several major components; fuselage wings, empennage,
engine nacelles, and landing gear systems. These components are manufactured at several
other manufacturing plants around the world. In addition, major structural components of Fuselage is the main component of the aircraft structure. It acts like a cylindrical beam.

aircraft structures are designed with several access doors and inspection doors. These However, it is not simple because in large aeroplanes the cylindrical beam is also

door designs make the aircraft structure design more complex because all the doors and pressurised.

cut-out require reinforcement. The aircraft structures have gone through several tests
before they are certified, the test is to ensure the structure strength is capable of handling
all the loads at all flight phases of the aircraft operation. General construction of the
design shows that the aircraft structures an assembly of many subparts and components.

1 2
[Link] A320 Structure Repair Manual

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 Figure 4-6 Fuselage detail structures3 Figure 4-7 Fuselage structure attachment details
The diagram shows typical aircraft structure design construction. Basic construction
consists of skin, frames, bulkhead, longerons, stringers. This section covers the general constructional features of the fuselage Doors, windows
and windscreen structures and identifies the load-carrying members.

4.1.1 General constructional features of the fuselage including doors, windows and
windscreen structures and identify load-carrying members.

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AIrbus Structure Course Notes

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Fuselage skin

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 4.2.2 Constructional and structural maintenance features relating to the Nacelles and
engine mounts structures
4.1.2 Structural maintenance features relating to doors, door mechanisms, door safety
devices, floors, radomes, fairings, drains and vents, seats.

4.3 Landing gear / undercarriage

4.2 Nacelles and engine mounts

4.3.1 General constructional features of landing gears structure and identify

load-carrying members
4.2.1 General constructional features nacelles and engine mounts’ structure and identify
load-carrying members

In this subject, repair of landing gear is not part of the subject because landing gear
Engine nacelles are the enclosure for the aircraft engine. The nacelles are mounted
repairs are carried out in workshops. The repair procedures are in accordance with the
on the aircraft outer wing front spars. The construction of the nacelles structures are
landing gears; manufacturers. However, it is still covered in the study to understand how
mainly from composites. However, some temporary repairs used metal sheets. If metal
the landing gears transmitted the ground loads to the fuselage structures.
sheet repairs are used, the design of repair philosophy is the same.

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 These main structure components of the aircraft with similar load condition, which is
normal forces to the surface due the airflow and airfoil shapes of the structure. The basic
features are almost similar, these wing, and stabilisers consist of leading edge and trailing
edge. The main structure is a box beam. There two spars beam, forward and aft. These
spars are the major structures of the wing. Spars are the assembly of angles’ cap, Top and
Bottom. These two caps are joined by a spar web, a thin skin panel. Several airfoil shape
structures constructed like the spars are installed perpendicular to the spars. These pieces
of structure subassemblies are called wing ribs.

Vertical stabilisers construction is similar to the wing construction, it is only installed in a

vertical position at the top of the aircraft tail section. The function of the vertical stabiliser
also generates forces.

4.4.2 Structural maintenance features relating to the Wings, empennage and

stabilisers.

Figure 4-4-1 Main landing gear loads4

The loads transfer to the landing gears mount fittings located in the fuselage. These the
structure design for the mount must be able to carry the load with Factor of Safety 1.5.

4.3.2 Structural maintenance features relating to the Undercarriage.

4.4 Wings, empennage and stabilisers

4.4.1 General constructional features of wings, empennage and stabilisers and identify
load-carrying members

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Ulrich Kling*, Tobias Brügge*, Fabian Peter*, Mirko Hornung* *Bauhaus Luftfahrt e.V. Taufkirchen, (2018)A FRAMEWORK FOR UNCONVENTIONAL
LANDING GEAR CONFIGURATION MODELLING

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 The 3D model shows the wing assembly and its associated components; Leading Edge,
WIng Tip, Trailing edge, and etc.

Wing structure identification of the ribs along the span. It is known as the Wing Ribs
Station.

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Vertical stabilisers stand up vertically at the end of the aircraft fuselage. This vertical
stabiliser provides yaw control thru the rudder.

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 Wing to fuselage attachment

Lift force on the wing.

The view shows the wing under loads (simulation).

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Detail structure view of a wing and Cross-sectional views of the wing sections showing
the vital parts,which are spars.

The complete view of the aircraft empennage, which consist of the vertical and horizontal
stabilisers including the control surfaces of Rudders and Elevators.

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