Study On Lightweight Of A Certain Aircraft Parts Based On Composite Materials

Under the demand of aircraft basic tasks, reducing structure weight is always thedesigners’ target. For structural design of aircraft, lightweight has become the current trend inthe development of aircraft. A lightweight structure means less use of material, lighter weightand fewer emissions of carbon. In the view of structural design, the lighter weight thestructure is, the longer distance the aircraft can cover. Designers should ensure that the aircrafthas sufficient strength, stiffness and lifespan, and then reduce the structural mass if possible.In the procedure of aircraft design, an effective method for lightweight is to use the lightmaterials which has high strength and stiffness in addition to applying reasonable structures.The application of advanced composites material (ACM) should be paid more attentionto improve the performances of aircraft. The special engineering plastics developed in the1970s, is the third-generation polymer materials which follows the general plastics and theengineering plastics. Due to their great characteristics such as high strength, high temperatureresistance and radiation resistance et al., the special engineering plastics are applied in thehigh-tech fields of aeronautics and astronautics, electronic information, medical treatment andhygiene as well as energy source. The Poly Ether Ether Ketone (PEEK) is a new kind ofthermoplastic crystalline polymer, and has been widely employed in many high-tech areas. Inthe field of aeronautics and astronautics, the PEEK is used to make a variety of aircraft partsinstead of traditional metal materials.The finite element modeling and analysis of aircraft parts is investigated in this paper,which is supported by “Modeling and Analysis for Adiabatic Sheath of XXX Aircraft Type’sEnvironment Control System”. A new PEEK material is applied in the adiabatic sheath part ofan aircraft’s environment control system to reduce the structural mass. First, the finite elementmodel of the part is established by meshing the geometric model. Then the static and dynamic analysis of the model is studied under different conditions of loads and constraints. In addition,the influences of elastic model, thickness and snap-fit with respect to the analysis results arecompared. The research in this paper will provide a theoretic foundation for the PEEKmaterial’s application in the adiabatic sheath and play an important role in lightweight ofaircraft.