An engineer's viewpoint on design and analysis of aircraft structural joints

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An engineer's viewpoint on design and analysis of aircraft structural joints

Hart-Smith, L.J.

The design of structurally efficient joints in aircraft fuselage structures and wing skin splices is addressed. It is contended that the joints should be designed first and the gaps in between filled in afterwards, taking pains not to optimize the basic structure first and then discover that it either cannot be assembled or that, when it is assembled, it is full of weak-link fuses. Both adhesively bonded and mechancially fastened joints are covered. Analogies are drawn between the characteristics of both classes of joints. The aspects of static joint strength and fatigue lives are included. The work is applicable to metallic as well as composite structures, and covers both high-load wing joints which have already been tested and new ideas for fuselage solices which have not. The effects of flaws and defects are associated with the need for damage tolerance, particularly in fuselage structures. The key to successful design in both cases is to restrict the bearing stresses at the most critical holes in the structure.