4 ms·
Get the wing to yield exactly how they want it to from aero loads, but somehow lay up the carbon so it doesn't yield unacceptably under FIA static load tests? I
by Scramblejams 2y ago
Get the wing to yield exactly how they want it to from aero loads, but somehow lay up the carbon so it doesn't yield unacceptably under FIA static load tests? I think that's probably ingenious.
Maybe a similar challenge in some respects to how structural engineers had to use very clever composite design to make the X-29A's forward-swept wing's leading edge curl down when the wing flexed up, lest an increase in angle of attack become self-reinforcing to the point of a stall or catastrophic wing failure.[0] These kinds of designs are frequently asymmetric and unbalanced (meaning different numbers of +/-45 plies) which can create internal stresses during curing, sometimes making them difficult to produce and extract from a mold without breaking the part or the mold and still getting the shape you want in the end.
[0] https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/sweeping-forward-developing-flight-testing-the-grumman-x-29a-forward-swept-wing-research-aircraft/ https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/sweeping-forward-developing...
- cromulent 2y agoIt's clever, but not original, so it's not ingenious :)