Airbus Operations Gmbh

Airbus Operations (s.a.s.)

Airbus Deutschland Gmbh

Airbus Operations Sl

Lars Krog

Marc Schimmler

Andrea Ivan Marasco

Thomas Grauerholz

Stéphane Grihon

Manuela Jürgens

Gary Ryan

Stuart Bates

Alastair Tucker

A beam () comprising first and second flanges (), the beam () having a first region () extending between the flanges () and a second region () extending between the flanges. The first region () is designed to support an applied concentrated shear load and the second region () is designed to support a predominantly bending load. The first region comprises a fan-shaped truss comprising a hub () adjacent the first flange and a plurality of struts () which extend substantially radially from the hub (), and the second region () comprises either a truss structure which is substantially regular in the longitudinal beam direction or a shear web. The beam may, for example, be used as a floor beam for an aircraft fuselage.

Beam

A method of designing a composite panel, the panel comprising a plurality of zones, each zone comprising a plurality of plies of composite material arranged in a stacking sequence, each ply in each stacking sequence having a respective orientation angle. For each orientation angle a first layout matrix is created which identifies zones in the panel which contain at least one ply with that orientation angle. A second layout matrix is also created which identifies zones in the panel which contain at least two plies with that orientation angle, and so on up to an Nth layout matrix which identifies zones in the panel which contain at least N plies with that orientation angle. The layout matrices are arranged in a plurality of candidate sequences. Selection criteria are then used to choose one or more of the candidate sequences and stacking sequences are assigned to the zones in accordance with the chosen candidate sequence(s).

Method of designing a composite panel

A method of designing a composite panel, the panel comprising a plurality of zones, each zone comprising a plurality of plies of composite material, each ply in each zone having a respective orientation angle, and some of the plies running continuously between adjacent zones. A design is provided comprising a set of design variables including a thickness for each of the zones, and a ply percentage for each orientation angle for each of the zones, each ply percentage identifying a percentage of plies within a zone having a particular orientation angle. The design is modified in a series of iterations, each iteration including: analyzing the current design by calculating an objective function, a set of ply evolution constraint functions each indicating a degree of ply continuity between a respective pair of adjacent zones, and one or more structural constraint functions; performing a sensitivity analysis by calculating partial derivatives of the objective function for the current design with respect to a selected set of the design variables, and calculating partial derivatives of the constraint functions for the current design with respect to a selected set of the design variables; and generating a new design by determining an optimum update of the design variables in accordance with the analysis and the sensitivity analysis.

A method of designing a composite laminate including a plurality of zones, each zone including a plurality of plies of composite material, each ply having a respective ply orientation angle. A global stacking sequence of stacking sequence elements is determined for the laminate. A local laminate thickness is determined for each zone. A local stacking sequence is then determined for each zone by extracting a subsequence of stacking sequence elements from the global stacking sequence. The global stacking sequence and the laminate thicknesses are determined together in an optimization process in which multiple sub-ply selection variables are assigned to each stacking sequence element. Optimal values are determined for the sub-ply selection variables and the laminate thicknesses. A single one of the sub-ply selection variables is assigned to each stacking sequence element thereby forcing a discrete choice of global ply orientation angle for each stacking sequence element.

Method of designing a composite laminate

An intercostal for an aircraft for dissipating a load from a first frame onto a second frame and/or a skin of the aircraft, the intercostal having a framework.

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Bristol, United Kingdom

Lars Krog