Composite Skin Panel With Internal Cavities for Aircraft Wing Weight Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft wings reinforced with stringers are costly, lead to panel warpage, and increase the weight and assembly cost of the wing, while also requiring additional stiffening elements that complicate construction.
Innovation Solution
A skin panel constructed of composite material with a continuous, smooth outer and inner surface and an internal grid of cavities, eliminating the need for stringers by providing both compression and tensile strength while reducing weight, achieved through the use of an outer sheet, inner sheet, and optional intermediate spacer sheet co-cured or bonded with adhesives and fasteners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If stringers are used to reinforce aircraft wings, then strength and rigidity are improved, but weight increases and assembly cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The skin panel is divided into multiple layers (outer sheet, intermediate spacer sheet, inner sheet) with cavities segmented throughout the structure. This segmentation provides reinforcement through the layered composite structure while the cavities eliminate unnecessary material, reducing weight compared to solid stringer constructions.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses composite materials consisting of multiple sheets bonded together with cavities in between. This composite structure provides enhanced strength and rigidity through the layered configuration and material properties, while the cavities reduce weight by removing excess material that would otherwise be present in traditional stringer designs.
2Strength
If stringers are used to reinforce aircraft wings, then strength is improved, but assembly cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the functions of multiple components (skin, stringers, stiffeners) into a single integrated skin panel structure. The cavities and layered composite construction provide both structural support and skin functions in one piece, eliminating the need for separate stringer assemblies and reducing assembly steps and costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and removes the unnecessary stringer components from the wing structure, retaining only the essential load-bearing functions within the skin panel itself. By taking out the separate stringers and incorporating their reinforcing function directly into the skin panel through cavities and layered construction, assembly complexity and cost are reduced.
3Stability of the object's composition
If stringers are used to reinforce aircraft wings, then rigidity is improved, but panel warpage occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The cavities are strategically positioned at specific locations within the skin panel where reinforcement is most needed, rather than using uniform stringer distribution. This local quality approach provides rigidity precisely where required while maintaining overall panel flatness and preventing warpage by distributing stresses evenly through the composite structure.
4Strength
If additional stiffening elements are added to aircraft wings, then strength is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines the skin and stiffening elements into a single integrated skin panel structure with cavities. This merging eliminates the need for separate stiffening components and their associated attachment hardware, significantly reducing device complexity while maintaining or improving strength through the composite cavity structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A skin panel configured for attachment to an aircraft structure is constructed of a composite material and has a continuous, smooth outer surface; a continuous, smooth inner surface that is configured for attachment to an aircraft structure; a peripheral edge that extends entirely around the skin panel and has a continuous, smooth surface and a plurality of cavities inside the material of the skin panel. The cavities reduce the weight of the skin panel without significantly detracting from the compression strength and tensile strength of the skin panel.