Fuselage, Wings and Stabilising Surfaces Chapter 1

DESIGN PHILOSOPHIES

The aircraft manufacturer will attempt to design an aircraft to take into account all the loads
that it may experience in flight. There are various guidelines, formulae and experience to guide
them in the design of a good fail safe/damage tolerant structure.

Safe Life
The safe life of an aircraft structure is defined as the minimum life during which it is known that
no catastrophic damage will occur. Life-counts for components of assemblies may be recorded
as number of flying hours, cycles of landing or pressurization events or even on a calendar
basis. After the elapsed life-count or fatigue cycle (typically pressurisations or landings has
been reached, the item is replaced or overhauled. In the interim (operational life) of the Aircraft,
and to minimise the chances of failure due to fatigue, aircraft designers apply the principle of
Fail safe construction or Damage tolerance.

Fail Safe or Damage Tolerant Structure

Large modern Aircraft are designed with a
Fail-safe or Damage-tolerant structure. This
can be described as a structure in which a
failure of a particular part is compensated MAIN FUSELAGE
FRAME
for by an alternative load-path provided
by an adjacent part that is able to carry the
loads for a limited time period. Typically this FRACTURE
is a structure which, after any single failure
or crack in any one structural member can
safely carry the normal operating loads until
the next periodic inspection. True dualling
of load-paths in common practice could be
LOAD PATHS
found in wing attachments and also in vertical
stabiliser and horizontal stabiliser attachment
points. WING TO FUSELAGE
ATTACHMENT FITTING

Figure 1.4

Detection of faults is reliant upon a planned inspection programme capable of finding such
failures. In order to gain access to the vulnerable areas a certain amount of dismantling is
necessary although the use of non-destructive testing (NDT) may be employed in less critical
areas. The disadvantage of true dualling of load-paths is that it is fundamentally very heavy.

Modern concepts of construction employ the Stressed-Skin or Semi-Monococque style of

construction where each piece of the Aircraft has its part to play in spreading loads throughout
the Airframe and is tolerant to certain amount of damage. The programmed inspection cycle
periodicy is determined on the basis that if a crack of detectable length has been missed at the
first inspection, the structure will allow this crack to develop until a subsequent inspection
before it becomes critical. The criteria of inspection cycles, Design Limit Loads, and Design
Ultimate Loads are agreed at the time of certification.

5
Aircraft Technical Book Company
http://www.ACTechbooks.com
Chapter 1 Fuselage, Wings and Stabilising Surfaces

Damage Tolerant Structure

Fail safe structures are rather heavy due to the extra structural members required to protect the
integrity of the structure. Damage tolerant structure eliminates the extra structural members by
spreading the loading of a particular structure over a larger area. This means that the structure
is designed so that damage can be detected during the normal inspection cycles before a failure
occurs.

FRAMES

TEAR STOPPER
FLANGE

SKIN
BULKHEAD REINFORCING
PLATE

STRINGERS

WINDOW
SUPPORT
FRAMES
FRAMES
INTERCOSTAL

Figure 1.5: Damage tolerant structure.

6
Aircraft Technical Book Company
http://www.ACTechbooks.com
Fuselage, Wings and Stabilising Surfaces Chapter 1

Fatigue
A structure which is subjected to continual reversals of loading will fail at a load of less than
would be the case for a steadily applied load. This is known as Fatigue. The failing load will
depend on the number of reversals experienced. It can be seen in the example below that if
the applied stress was 80% of the ultimate stress, the specimen could expect to fail after 100
applications but if the applied stress was reduced to 20% the failure would not occur until 10
million applications.

S
Applied 80
alternating
stress
(% of 50
ultimate)
30
20

0
2 3 4 7
1 10 10 10 10
No. of cycles to failure
N (drawn to log scale)
Figure 1.6: Fatigue.

Station Numbers
A method of locating components on the aircraft must be established in order that maintenance
and repairs can be carried out. This is achieved by identifying reference lines and station numbers
for fuselage, wings, empennage, etc. Fuselage station lines are determined by reference to a zero
datum line (fuselage station 0.00) at or near the forward portion of the aircraft as defined by the
manufacturer. Station numbers are given in inches forward (negative and given a - sign) or aft
(positive and with a +sign) of the zero datum. Wing stations are measured from the centre line
of the aircraft and are also given in inches left or right of the centre line. Vertical position from a
ground line or horizontal datum can be known as a Water Line (WL) or Buttock Line, given as
a dimension in inches from the horizontal datum.

7
Aircraft Technical Book Company
http://www.ACTechbooks.com
Chapter 1 Fuselage, Wings and Stabilising Surfaces

Figure 1.4 Various stations on a corporate jet aircraft

Figure 1.7: Various stations on a corporate jet

aircraft.

8
Aircraft Technical Book Company
http://www.ACTechbooks.com
Aircraft Pneumatic Systems Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

AIRCRAFT PNEUMATIC SYSTEMS

Contents
AIRCRAFT PNEUMATIC SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
ENGINE BLEED AIR SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
SYSTEMS USED FOR NON-PRESSURISED FLIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
RAM AIR SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
COMBUSTION HEATER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
SYSTEMS USED FOR PRESSURISED FLIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
ENGINE DRIVEN CABIN SUPERCHARGER (BLOWER) SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . 201
ENGINE BLEED AIR SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
AIR CYCLE COOLING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
TURBO-COMPRESSOR (BOOTSTRAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
BRAKE TURBINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
FAN TURBINE (TURBO-FAN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
HEAT EXCHANGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
GROUND COOLING FAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
WATER SEPARATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
HUMIDIFIER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
RAM AIR VALVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
MASS FLOW CONTROLLER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
TEMPERATURE CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
AIR DISTRIBUTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
GASPER AIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
TRIM AIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
RE-CIRCULATION FANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
VAPOUR CYCLE (REFRIGERATION) SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

193
Aircraft Technical Book Company
http://www.ACTechbooks.com
Chapter 10 Aircraft Pneumatic Systems

Figure 1.1a. Air Sources and Uses (Schematic)

Figure 10.1a: Air sources and uses (schematic).

194
Aircraft Technical Book Company
http://www.ACTechbooks.com
Aircraft Pneumatic Systems Chapter 10

AIRCRAFT PNEUMATIC SYSTEMS

A pneumatic system is fitted in most modern aircraft to supply some or all of the following
aircraft systems.

Airconditioning

Pressurisation

Aerofoil and engine anti-icing

Air turbine motors

Engine starting
Hydraulic power
Thrust reverse
Leading and trailing edge flap/slat operation

Pneumatic rams, e.g. thrust reverser actuation

Hydraulic reservoir and potable water tank pressurisation

Cargo compartment heating

Most of these systems use high volume low pressure airflow bled from the compressor stages
of a gas turbine engine, see Figures 10.1a and 10.1b. Other sources of supply are engine driven
compressors or blowers, auxiliary power unit bleed air and ground power units.

Some older turbo-propeller and piston engined aircraft use high pressure pneumatic systems
for the operation of landing gear, brakes, flaps etc. (Fokker F.27) but these aircraft are a minority
and hydraulic power has become the normal method of operation for these systems.

ENGINE BLEED AIR SYSTEM

The engine bleed air system consists of the power source (the engine) and control devices for
temperature and pressure regulation during operation. Because of the great variation of air
output available from a gas turbine engine between idle and maximum rpm there is a need to
maintain a reasonable supply of air during low rpm as well as restricting excessive pressure when
the engine is at maximum rpm. It is usual to tap two pressure stages to maintain a reasonable
pressure band at all engine speeds.

195
Aircraft Technical Book Company
http://www.ACTechbooks.com
Chapter 10 Aircraft Pneumatic Systems

Figure
Figure 10.1b:
1.1b. AirAir sources and
Sources and uses
Uses (pictorial).
(Pictorial)

Figure 10.1a shows a typical bleed air system with air being ducted from two stages of the
compressor, a low pressure (LP) stage and a higher pressure (HP) stage. In this case the stages
used are the 5th and 9th. The two sources are combined together at the High Pressure Shut-
Off Valve (HPSOV). This valve is pressure sensitive and pneumatically operated and is open
when there is insufficient air pressure from the LP system to maintain the required flow. As
the engine speeds up the LP air pressure will increase until it closes the high pressure shut-
off valve so that, in all normal stages of flight, bleed air will come from the LP stages. The
high pressure shut-off valves are designed to open relatively slowly on engine start up or when
airconditioning is selected to minimise the possibility of a surge of air pressure. They are also
designed to close very quickly to prevent an ingress of fumes or fire to the cabin in the event of
an engine fire.

The bleed air control valve is the separation point between the engine and the pneumatic system
manifold and allows the bleed air to enter the pneumatic system and is controlled electrically
from the flight deck. Non-return valves (NRV) are installed in the LP stage ducts to prevent HP
air entering the LP stages of the engine when the high pressure shut-off valve is open.

Most multi-engined aircraft also keep the supplying engines or sides separate with each engine
supplying its own user services. These are kept independent by isolation valves which are
normally closed but which may be opened if an engine supply is lost to feed the other sides
services.

The system will be fitted with a duct pressure gauge, valve position indicators and overheat
sensors both inside and outside the supply ducts.

196
Aircraft Technical Book Company
http://www.ACTechbooks.com