Textile-Layup Annular Fuselage Frames for Reduced Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacture of structural elements for aircraft fuselages, particularly for cut-outs such as doors and windows, is high-effort and costly due to separate production and assembly of reinforcement structures, often involving multiple parts and high assembly effort.
Innovation Solution
A method involving laying up textile material members on a mandrel to form structural element preforms, which are then cured to create annular elements that can be integrated directly into the fuselage, reducing the number of parts and assembly effort through processes like automated fiber placement and co-consolidation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If structural elements are manufactured separately and attached by bolting, then assembly flexibility is maintained, but manufacturing effort and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the reinforcement structure and the skin into a single integrated structural element. The reinforcement profile is embedded within the skin during the forming process, eliminating the need for separate manufacturing and assembly operations. This integration directly reduces manufacturing effort and eliminates the complexity of assembling multiple separate parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The structural element serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the skin surface, incorporates reinforcement profiles for structural strength, and creates aperture surroundings all in one component. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate reinforcement structures and reduces the overall number of parts required.
2Productivity
If multiple separate parts are used for reinforcement structures, then structural integrity is maintained, but assembly time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The skin and reinforcement structures are merged into a single integrated component formed in one operation. This eliminates the time-consuming steps of separately manufacturing reinforcement parts and assembling them to the skin, thereby significantly increasing production rate and reducing assembly time.
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcement profiles are pre-formed and embedded within the skin during the initial forming process rather than being added later. This preliminary integration of structural elements eliminates subsequent assembly operations and accelerates the overall manufacturing process.
3Ease of manufacture
If separate reinforcement structures are manufactured, then design flexibility is maintained, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of skin and reinforcement into a single manufacturable component reduces manufacturing cost by eliminating separate production processes and assembly operations. The design maintains flexibility through the ability to vary the reinforcement profile geometry and material properties within the integrated structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention allows for parameter changes in the reinforcement profile geometry, material composition, and cross-sectional shape while maintaining the integrated structure. This enables design adaptation for different structural requirements without compromising the manufacturing efficiency or increasing cost.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces manufacturing effort and cost by integrating reinforcement structures directly into the fuselage, allowing faster processing times, less scrap, and higher production rates with fewer parts, while maintaining structural integrity.
Implementation Method 1
curing the structural element preform, so as to obtain a structural element
Data Source
AI summary
A method for manufacturing a structural element for a fuselage of an aircraft. To improve the manufacture of structural elements, a method includes laying up textile material members on a mandrel to form a plurality of structural element preforms that are space apart along an extended direction of the mandrel. The structural element preforms form closed loops and are subsequently cured to obtain annular structural elements. The annular structural elements are used as basic building blocks for stiffening panel members or are directly used as structural frame elements reinforcing cut-outs in a fuselage for windows and/or doors.