Finite Element Modelling of Very Large Composite Aircraft Wings

Professor Silvestre Pinho, Professor in Mechanics of Composites at Imperial College London

Traditional structural design methods in Aeronautics explore a very large number of design variables using simple models, suitably calibrated following decades of experience, as well as extensive experimental and simulation data. More detailed finite element models are finally created to verify the design, but only once the design space has been very significantly reduced, and vast aspects of the design have been fixed. This process creates an obvious problem when moving away from the design space for which the simple models used at the start of this process were calibrated.

A possible solution to the above consists of detailed finite element models of very large aircraft structures that have the capability to represent the detail required to predict likely hotspots in structural components such as a wing, and where the discretisation and the design variables can evolve during the analysis as required. Possible approaches for achieving such models will be presented during the talk.