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Aaron Latty, BSME MSc
Sales and Support Manager
Strand7 UK Limited
Finite Element Analysis Techniques for Aircraft Design Applications
Presented to the RAeS
Conference on Light Aircraft Design
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• Started in aerospace industry 1996
• Structural design of airframes, wings,
undercarriage
• MSc in Computational and Software
Techniques in Engineering - 2003
• Conceptual design research on high speed
marine craft, hovercraft, seaplanes
• Joined Strand7 in 2008, specializing in
finite element analysis
Aaron Latty
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Strand7 Pty Ltd
• Established in 1988
• Head Office: Sydney Australia
• Primary activity: Research and Development of
Finite Element Analysis Software
• Product: Strand7 FEA Software
• Support to Strand7 users
• FEA Consultancy
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Content of Presentation
• Finite Element Analysis (FEA) Overview
• Wing-in-ground Effect Craft – Global Strength
Analysis
• Atmospheric Research Craft – Fairing Study
• Cessna 172 - Global Loads Model
• Questions
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FEA – Overview
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• The Finite Element Method (FEM) is a numerical
technique for solving field problems such as:
– Elasticity problems (i.e. stress analysis)
– Heat transfer
– Fluid dynamics
– Acoustics
– Magnetics
– … and many others
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FEA – Overview
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• It involves the following steps:
– Dividing the domain (i.e. a structure) into a number of
very small regions (the elements)
– Making an assumption about how the field variable
can vary over a single element (i.e. constant stress,
linear stress, etc.)
– Assembling a matrix that accounts for the interaction
between the elements (interaction is at the nodes)
– Solving the matrix to determine the overall response
(e.g. response to applied loads)
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Elements
• Different types of elements can be formulated,
and for structural analysis they can be broadly
classified as:
– Beam (or line) elements
– Plate/shell (surface) elements
– Brick (solid) elements
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Beams for frameworks
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Plates for a detailed wing
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Bricks for thick solids
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Stages in Practical FEA
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Think about the
problem before you
start…
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That is…
• Classify the problem
– Linear/nonlinear
– Static/dynamic
– What results are needed?
• What do you wish to learn?
• Decide what is important and what is not.
• Can the analysis be done by hand?
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If FEA is the way to go, then
embark on the three stages of
practical FEA…
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Define the problem. Determine the response. Interpret the results
(design).
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Pre-processing
• Planning
– Goal is to capture the appropriate detail to allow
understanding of the problem
– Decide how to consider the applied loads and
boundary conditions
– Is the material to be treated as homogeneous,
isotropic and linear elastic?
– Can the analysis be simplified to 2D (e.g. plane strain,
plane stress) or is 3D needed?
– Can symmetry be exploited?
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Pre-processing
• Modelling
– Define geometry (e.g. CAD or otherwise)
– Generate the mesh (automatic or manual)
– Define material properties
– Apply boundary conditions (restraints)
– Apply loads (forces, acceleration, thermal,…)
– Verify that what you have modelled is what you
intended (not always easy!)
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Mesh density
• Increasing level of discretization for a circular tube
– What is the appropriate level?
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Example
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• Stress concentration in a thin sheet of aluminium with a circular hole and uniform far-field stress
– Three levels of mesh refinement using simple elements, produce three different results (but hopefully convergent)
• In other words, correct meshing and element
choice is very important.
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Solving
• While pre-processing is generally a very interactive task, solving usually is not.
• The solver takes over to assemble a stiffness matrix from the mesh and proceed to solve for the field variable.
• In a structural FEA, the field variable is displacement (and rotation) at the nodes.
• Once the displacement field is calculated, other results such as stress, force, etc., are calculated.
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Solving
• For a linear problem, it’s basically the solution of Hooke’s Law
– 1D: F = K*X – just like a spring
– 2D and 3D: {F}=[K]{X} • {F} is a vector, [K] is a matrix and {X} is a vector
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Solving
• For non-linear problems, things are generally
more complicated
– K can be a function of X (i.e. lateral stiffness of a
cable is a function of the axial strain in the cable)
i.e. {F} = [K(X)]*{X}
• We need X to find K, but we need K to find X !
• Except for some simple cases, this requires an iterative
solution procedure
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Post-processing
• Check solver logs
• Interpret results
– Numerous data are generated • Displacements
• Strains
• Stresses
• etc.
– These can be displayed in various ways • Contour plots
• Vector plots
• Graphs
• Tabular listings
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Be aware of the assumptions!
• Assumptions must be understood
– If you use an element that can support only a linear
displacement field, then a single element can be used
to model a constant stress field:
• Stress = E * strain
• (Engineering) strain is the first derivative of displacement,
hence linear displacement gives constant strain.
– If the stress field is not constant, you can:
• Use more linear elements (modelling a non-linear result as
piecewise linear), or
• Use a higher-order elements (e.g. quadratic) if you FEA
program offers them.
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Be aware of the assumptions!
• Some are built in by the software developer
– It is important to be fully aware of the assumptions
and limitations that are built into the software
– A good FEA system will have
• A comprehensive Theoretical Manual so that you can
review and understand the inherent assumptions and
limitations of the software and/or its implementation, and
• A detailed Verification Manual that clearly documents the
results that you can expect under different situations (access
to the files used to produce these results is a definite
advantage)
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FEA in Aircraft Design
• Aircraft Modifications
• Loads Analysis
• Modal Analysis
• Deflection analysis
• Configuration checks
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Wing-in-ground Effect Craft Global Strength Analysis
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Flightship – Mesh Definition
CAD Geometry
Final Mesh
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Flightship – Loads
• Landing on the Nose
• Landing on the Step
• Landing on the Tail with Sponson Loads
• Landing on the Tail without Sponson Loads
• In-flight Sponson Strike
• Aerodynamic Wing Lift
• Applied as per FAR Part 23
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Flightship - Results
• Global behaviour was
captured including
– Displacements
– Plate forces
– Ply strains and reserve
factors
• Laminate results were
evaluated at each ply
over an envelope of
all load cases
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Flightship - Results
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Fairing Study
BAe 146-301
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Fairing Study
Fairing on Radiometer Blister
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Analysis performed by Cranfield
Aerospace on behalf of Facility
for Airborne Atmospheric
Measurements
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Fairing - Modelling
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Fairing - Loads
• Fairing loads were determined using wind tunnel testing
• 18 tappings • Aircraft angles of attack
ranging from 6 to 16 degrees
• Cp data was provided for upper, side and lower surfaces for all angles with and without the cover
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Fairing - Results
• Both configurations
were analyzed using
the same model
• Results were
determined for all
plies for all load cases
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Loads Model Example Cessna 172
Photograph courtesy of Cessna Aircraft Company
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Loads Model Example Cessna 172
• Free-floating structures, like complete aircraft,
can be difficult to model using standard FEA
programs
• The ability to perform an Inertia Relief analysis
greatly simplifies the task
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Inertia Relief
Simple example – steady straight and level flight
– Lift = Weight (Thrust = Drag)
• Apply the pressure distribution representing lift
• Apply -1g vertical acceleration to balance the
lift
Load application should be simple enough, but
the problem is that there are no restraints.
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Inertia Relief
Not so simple example – a manoeuvre
• Apply the pressure distribution over the aircraft
– this gives an applied force vector {F}
• Determine accelerations required to balance
this load
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Inertia Relief
• If the CG of the aircraft is at the origin, the linear
accelerations are easily determined (F=Ma).
• For the angular accelerations, we need to find
the rotational inertia of the aircraft and solve for
the angular accelerations to balance the external
moments Mx, My, Mz.
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Loads Model Example Cessna 172
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Loads Model Example Cessna 172
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Loads Model Example Cessna 172
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Questions
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