Optimum alternate material selection methodology for an aircraft skin

Weight penalty has been a challenge for design engineers of aerospace vehicles. Today’s high-efficiency combat aircraft undergoes intense stress and strain during flying missions, which require stronger and stiffer materials to retain structural integrity. Though metallic materials have been successfully used for the construction of aircraft structures and components, metals still have a low strength-to-weight ratio. This paper aims to develop an alternate optimised material selection methodolog...     

Effects of surface topography and specimen thickness on high-speed raindrop impact damage of CFRP laminates

Raindrop impact erosion has been observed since early days of aviation, and can be catastrophic for exposed materials during supersonic flight. A single impact waterjet apparatus is established for mimicking drop impacts at the velocities between 350 m/s and 620 m/s. Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer(CFRP) laminates with three different surface morphologies and specimen thicknesses are tested here. A central region with no visible damage has been noticed, surrounded by a “failure ring” with common...