Analysis of Mass Characteristics of Aircraft Fuselage Construction Materials

Abstract

Theoretical formulas for calculating the mass of an airplane fuselage are analyzed, and the parameters affecting the final mass of the structure are determined: geometric and physical characteristics of the power set, that depend on the strength, density, and stiffness of the material of the power set elements. The advantages of weight and strength characteristics of composite materials and the latest structural alloys over the characteristics of traditional materials that are used in aircraft and rocket engineering in the design of aircraft are considered. Comparison and analysis of several types of composite materials, as well as third-generation aluminum alloys with a chemical composition improved by alloying with lithium, by the criteria of density, strength, yield, and stiffness are carried out. The effect of applying different modern structural materials with reduced density and increased strength on the fuselage structure mass of the aircraft is considered and analyzed. The results of several analytical calculations by a number of authors of scientific publications, which show a significant reduction in the weight of the fuselage structure when using composite materials instead of traditional structural metal alloys such as D16-T and AA2124, are presented. An efficiency of a method of additionally aircraft structure weight reduction made of composite materials by optimizing the topology of the power elements of the structure - a method of optimizing the structural material distribution to create a load-bearing structure, which consists of selecting such geometric dimensions and shapes of the power elements, at which the material consumption, and therefore the final structure mass is the lowest with preserved strength characteristics of the structure, is considered. A conclusion about the obvious superiority of mechanical and weight properties of polymer composites reinforced with carbon or organic fiber fillers over lightweight third-generation aluminum alloys and laminated metal-polymer materials has been made based on the analysis of the results of the conducted research. The results of the analyzed studies also confirm the conclusions drawn, showing a 29.9 % decrease in the weight of the fuselage structure, and the optimization of the power element topology proposed as an additional weight reduction will theoretically make it possible to reduce the material intensity of the composite structure, thereby reducing its weight by about 18 %.