Structural analysis of the aircraft wing box with a splice joint in the bottom skin

Structural analysis is an important part of the design splice joint and development of the aircraft structure. Aircraft is a complex mechanical structure with a very high structural safety record. Safety and the structural weight are important parameters to be considered in the design phase. Rarely an aircraft will fail due to a static overload during its service life. Airframe is a semi-monocoque construction. The attachment joints are inevitable in any large structure like an airframe. Splicing is normally used to retain a clean aerodynamic surface of the wing skin. The wings are the most important lift-producing part of the aircraft. Wings vary in design depending upon the aircraft type and its purpose. The wing box has two crucial joints, the skin splice joint and spar splice joint. Top and bottom skins of inboard and outboard portions are joined together by means of skin splicing. Front and rear spars of inboard and outboard are joined together by means of spar splicing. The skins resist much of the bending moment in the wing and the spars resist the shear force. This paper includes the detailed analysis of the chord-wise splicing of wing skin. The splicing is considered as a multi row riveted joint under the action of tensile in plane load due to wing bending. Stress analysis of the joint is carried out to compute the stresses at rivet holes due to by-pass load and bearing load. The stresses are estimated using the finite element approach. In this paper for modelling CATIA V5 software is used and for analysis tool MSC/ PATRAN and MSC/ NASTRAN 2010.