An analytical comparison of two wing structures for Mach 5 cruise airplanes

Mach 5 cruise research conducted by NASA is related to aerodynamics, propulsion, and structures. The study of structures includes the propulsion system, fuselage, and wings. Various studies have shown that the achievement of adequate range is largely dependent on a low structural mass fraction. The present investigation is concerned with a study of two wing structure configurations for Mach 5 aircraft. An uprated version (Ti-6242 replacing B-120 titanium) of the YF-12/SR-71 wing structure is considered. The B-120 titanium structure represents the current art of high speed aircraft wing structures. The YF-12 wing structure was designed about 20 years ago when the analytical methods for calculating thermal stresses were limited. The second wing structural configuration studied in the present investigation also used Ti-6242 materials but replaced the corrugated-beaded panels with diffusion bonded honeycomb-core sandwich panels, and replaced the z-stiffened shear webs with sine-wave stiffened shear webs.