Aircraft Wing Spar Design for Flexible Component Routing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft wing designs face challenges in efficiently supporting lines and mechanical power transfer devices, particularly in terms of structural stability and the need for fluid-tight spars that limit the placement of system components.
Innovation Solution
A wing design that allows for the attachment of fluid lines, electrical lines, and mechanical power transfer devices inside or reaching into the wing box, where the spar is not required to be fluid-tight, enabling more flexible routing and placement of system components without additional separation devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If spars are designed to be fluid-tight to delimit fuel tank regions, then structural integrity and fuel containment are improved, but the placement flexibility of system components is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The wing box is divided into multiple separate compartments or regions within which system components can be arranged. This segmentation allows components to be positioned flexibly within defined spaces without requiring the entire wing box to be fluid-tight, thus resolving the contradiction between fuel containment and component placement flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The fluid-tight requirement is extracted from the spar structure itself and transferred to separate fuel tank components or containment systems. This allows the spars to serve primarily as structural supports for system components while fuel containment is handled by dedicated sealed containers, enabling both reliable fuel storage and flexible component arrangement.
2Reliability
If spars are designed as fluid-tight boundaries, then fuel tank segmentation is improved, but the structural stability optimization is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel tank segmentation function is separated from the primary spar structure and assigned to internal containment elements. This allows the spars to be optimized for structural stability and load-bearing functions while separate segmented compartments provide the required fuel tank division, eliminating the compromise between segmentation and structural stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The spar structure is designed to serve multiple functions: primary structural support, mounting for system components, and framework for internal fuel containment. By making the spar structure universal and not dedicating it solely to fluid-tight boundaries, the design achieves both structural stability optimization and adequate fuel tank segmentation through combined functionality.
3Adaptability or versatility
If additional separation devices are installed to segregate system components, then component segregation is improved, but device complexity is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The structural support function and component segregation function are merged into the spar structure itself. The spars naturally divide the wing box into regions that can accommodate different system components, providing both structural support and component segregation without requiring additional separate separation devices, thus reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The spar structure performs dual functions of structural support and component segregation automatically through its geometric arrangement and positioning. The structure serves itself to provide both mechanical support and spatial organization for system components, eliminating the need for additional dedicated separation devices and reducing system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A wing for an aircraft includes a leading edge as a first chordwise edge, a trailing edge as a second chordwise edge, an upper skin extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge, a lower skin extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge, at least one spar extending between the upper skin and the lower skin in a spanwise direction to create wing box with the upper skin and the lower skin, and at least one of a fluid line, an electrical line, and a mechanical power transfer device attached inside or reaching into the wing box at least partially.