Theoretical and practical aspects of the Coandă effect applied in aeronautics

The Coandă Effect, or better said, the deviation of fluid jets to stay attached to a convex surface is a complex gas-dynamic effect, named after the Romanian aviation engineer Henri Coandă and it was for the first time highlighted by him in 1910 during the take-off of one of his first planes, Coandă-1910, which was also the first jet plane to fly. During the short flight, Coandă was able to notice the near-fit alignment of the flue gas jets with the airplane fuselage. Later, both Coandă and other scholars have intensively studied the effect that is named The Coandă Effect, in his honor.

Optimization of the Composite Airplane Fuselage for an Optimum Structural Integrity

The newly developed airplanes are using composite laminates to replace the metal alloys for different components, such as the fuselage and the wings. The major advantage of the composite materials is to reduce structural weight which results in reducing the fuel consumption. The aim of this project is to investigate the structural integrity of an airplane fuselage, which uses various types of carbon composite laminates under the static loading of the cabin pressurization. The research is performed using the finite element method and the HYPERMESH commercial software with a composite tool to change the thickness and the orientation of carbon fiber laminates used in the facesheet of the sandwich structure. Three different orientations/stacking sequence of the HexPly 8552 AS4 carbon fibers with two honeycomb cores: Hexagonal Al and Nomex. The results show that the composite material using the HexPly 8552 carbon fiber oriented at angle 30 and angle 45 and the Nomex Honeycomb core of a total laminate thickness of 15.875mm outperform all other thicknesses and orientations in regards to the static loading failure.

Numerical computation of lightning transfer functions for layered, anisotropically conducting shielding structures by the method of moments

A formalism for the computation of lightning transfer functions by the method of moments, which involves shielding structures that may consist of layered, anisotropically conducting composite materials, is presented in this contribution. The composite materials, being of a type that is widely used in space- and aircraft design, are electrically characterized by an equivalent conductivity. As basis for the quantitative analysis the method of moments is used where shielding surfaces can be treated by a thin layer technique which utilizes analytical solutions inside the layer. Also the effect of an extended lightning channel can be taken into account. The method is applied to geometries that resemble an actual airplane fuselage.

Topology Optimization of an Airplane Component to Be Made by Selective Laser Melting Technology

This paper presents a research performed in the field of airplane components made by Additive Manufacturing (AM) methods, such as Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology. The mechanical behavior of fixing clamps for the hydraulic pipes that are passing through an airplane fuselage has been analyzed by using a dedicated topology optimization program. Two types of materials have been considered as an alternative for this type of component to be manufactured by SLM: Ti6Al4V and AlSi12. By using the Femap NX Nastran topology optimization program, it was possible to re-design the shape of this component and to select the best type of material that is adequate from the mechanical strength point of view, with a minimum weight as an optimization goal.