Evaluation of structural design concepts for an arrow-wing supersonic cruise aircraft

An analytical study was performed to determine the best structural approach for design of primary wing and fuselage structure of a Mach 2.7 arrow wing supersonic cruise aircraft. Concepts were evaluated considering near term start of design. Emphasis was placed on the complex interactions between thermal stress, static aeroelasticity, flutter, fatigue and fail safe design, static and dynamic loads, and the effects of variations in structural arrangements, concepts and materials on these interactions. Results indicate that a hybrid wing structure incorporating low profile convex beaded and honeycomb sandwich surface panels of titanium alloy 6Al-4V were the most efficient. The substructure includes titanium alloy spar caps reinforced with boron polyimide composites. The fuselage shell consists of hat stiffened skin and frame construction of titanium alloy 6Al-4V. A summary of the study effort is presented, and a discussion of the overall logic, design philosophy and interaction between the analytical methods for supersonic cruise aircraft design are included.