4 ms·
Oddly enough airplanes are like this too, as I understand it -- the skin is integral to the structure.
by analog31 4y ago
Oddly enough airplanes are like this too, as I understand it -- the skin is integral to the structure.
- thereddaikon 4y agoYes most if not all modern aircraft are monocoque.
- bewaretheirs 4y agoNot odd at all -- when weight is critical, you want to make the most out of every gram of material, ideally getting overall structure, aero skin, and pressure vessel in one. Rockets with balloon tanks (such as the original Atlas) even rely on pressure from the propellant tank contents to strengthen the structure.
- adolph 4y agoWhich is the reason for the corrugated sections—the space between tanks that needed extra structure. https://apollo11space.com/why-are-the-interstage-rings-of-the-saturn-v-corrugated/ https://apollo11space.com/why-are-the-interstage-rings-of-th...
- kens 4y agoAlso automobiles; in the 1960s cars mostly moved from body-on-frame to unibody construction, where the skin is an integral part. The Lincoln Town Car was one of the rare body-on-frame cars, which is why it was often used for stretch limousines; it is much easier to extend the body.
- twobitshifter 4y agoInterestingly electric cars are going back to body on frame. Canoo is a good example of this.
- 0x457 4y agoWell, if you had a giant, heavy slab at the lowest possible point - silly not to use it as a frame. Some EVs are somewhere in-between - not strictly body on frame, but also no unibody.
- dsfyu404ed 4y agoAnd they have to call it a "skateboard" to get around the biases of a generation of textbook engineers who grew up thinking that body on frame is dumb and old.
- adgjlsfhk1 4y agoWith newer carbon fiber airplanes, there isn't much structure other than the skin.