EXISTING TILTROTOR AIRCRAFT WING RIBS, FABRICATED FROM CARBON/EPOXY THERMOSET MATERIALS, USE FIVE STIFFENERS AND TWO CORDS ATTACHED TO THE RIB WEB BY APPROXIMATELY 150 MECHANICAL FASTENERS. THIS PROGRAM AIMS TO REDUCE AIRCRAFT WEIGHT AND COST BY DESIGNING A ONE-PIECE THERMOPLASTIC WING RIB. FULL-SCALE THERMOPLASTIC RIBS ARE MADE USING VARIOUS PROCESSES, THEN STRUCTURALLY TESTED TO VALIDATE THE DESIGN CONCEPT. TO REDUCE WEIGHT AND COST, A COST-SHARING PROGRAM WAS IMPLEMENTED BETWEEN BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON, INCORPORATED AND FOUR MAJOR THERMOPLASTIC FABRICATORS; THIS CONSISTS OF DESIGNING, FABRICATING, AND TESTING A THERMOPLASTIC WING RIB. THIS PAPER ADDRESSES DESIGN CONCEPT, MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION, PROPOSED TOOLING AND MANUFACTURING APPROACH, STRUCTURAL TESTING, AND PRELIMINARY COST AND WEIGHT SAVINGS TO SUPPORT PROGRAM OBJECTIVES.
| Number of Pages : | 21 |
| Published : | 06/01/1990 |
