Impact analysis on an integrated carbon composite wing spar of fixed wing aircraft

Abstract

The paper deals with the impact analysis on an integrated wing spar. The focus of this study is to analyze the structural integrity, energy conservation and the deformation that took place in an integrated wing spar, where the wing spar and the leading edge of the wing is made into a single part. With 3D printing technology, it can be made into a single component. Integrated wing spar is used instead of conventional spar as it eliminates the need of riveting the spar and the airfoil. The cost of production is less and the omission of fasteners and overlapping joints in the airframe make it advantageous with its ease in construction along with reduced structural weight. The integrated wing spar model as well as conventional wing spar model are designed using Catia software and the structural analyses are performed using LS-Dyna software. An explicit dynamic FEM analysis is carried so that the short loading response of structure can be simulated using Lagrangian formulation. The bird model (2 kg bird) is assigned to impact the wing structure at different velocities ranging from 100 m/s to 300 m/s for the integrated wing spar and conventional wing spar at different velocities. The numerical results revealed that the integral design promises to have a significantly longer fatigue life, energies conserved and with less deformation than the conventional design. There is 14.76% improvement in the energy absorption rate and 37% reduction in energy gain rate by integrated spar with comparison to conventional spar. Thus, the integrated wing spar is found to be suitable alternate to conventional wing spar design.