Technical problems related to fuel containment and damage tolerance of composite material wings for transport aircraft was investigated. The major tasks are the following: (1) the preliminary design of damage tolerant wing surface using composite materials; (2) the evaluation of fuel sealing and lightning protection methods for a composite material wing; and (3) an experimental investigation of the damage tolerant characteristics of toughened resin graphite/epoxy materials. The design concepts investigated for the upper and lower surfaces of a composite wing for a transport aircraft are presented and the relationship between weight savings and the design allowable strain used within the analysis is discussed. Experiments which compare the fuel sealing characteristics of bolt-bonded joints and bolted joints sealed with a polysulphide sealant are reviewed. Data from lightning strike tests on stiffened and unstiffened graphite/epoxy panels are presented. A wide variety of coupon tests were conducted to evaluate the relative damage tolerance of toughened resin graphite/epoxies. Data from these tests are presented and their relevance to the wing surface design concepts are discussed.


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    Title :

    Fuel containment and damage tolerance in large composite primary aircraft structures


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Conf. on Fibrous Composites in Struct. Design., ; 1983 ; Burbank, CA, United States


    Publication date :

    1983-03-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English