AEROSPACE VEHICLE STRUCTURES

II

( AVS II )
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

SYLLABUS
1) THIN PLATE THEORY
2) BUCKLING
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)

OF

THIN

PLATES

AND

STIFFENED

PANELS
BENDING AND SHEAR OF THIN WALLED BEAMS
TORSION OF THIN WALLED BEAMS
STRUCTURAL IDEALISATION OF THIN WALLED
BEAMS
STRUCTURAL AND LOADING DISCONTINUITIES IN
THIN WALLED BEAMS
STRESS ANALYSIS OF AIRCRAFT COMPONENTSWING
STRESS ANALYSIS OF AIRCRAFT COMPONENTSY.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,
FUSELAGE

1/27/16

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

SUGGESTED READINGS
Megson, T.H.G., Aircraft Structures for Engineering
Students, 4th edn., Elsevier, 2007, ISBN 0-750-667397.
Peery, D.J. and Azar, J.J., Aircraft Structures, 2nd edn.,
McGra-Hill, 1982, ISBN 0-07-049196-8.
Bruhn. E.H, Analysis and Design of Flight Vehicles
Structures, Tri-state Off-set Company, USA, 1965.
Rivello, R.M., Theory and Analysis of Flight Structures,
McGraw Hill, 1993.
Sechler.E.E. and Dunn, L.G., Airplane Structural
Analysis and Design, John Wiley & Sons.

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

UNIT - 1
Introduction To Pure Bending Theory.
Thin Plate Theory
Analysis Of Thin Rectangular Plates Subject To Bending
Analysis Of Thin Rectangular Plates Subject To Bending And
Twisting
Analysis Of Thin Rectangular Plates Subject To Distributed
Transverse Load, Combined Bending And Inplane
Loading- Thin Plates Having Small Initial Curvature And
Energy Methods Of Analysis.

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

BENDING STRESSES IN BEAMS

Beams are subjected to bending moment and shearing forces
which vary from section to section. To resist the bending
moment and shearing force, the beam section develops
stresses.
Bending is usually associated with shear. However, for
simplicity we neglect effect of shear and consider moment
alone ( this is true when the maximum bending moment is
considered---- shear is ZERO) to find the stresses due to
bending. Such a theory wherein stresses due to bending alone
is considered is known as PURE BENDING or SIMPLE
BENDING theory.

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Bending action:
Sagging

Hogging
Neutral layer

M
NEUTRAL AXIS
NEUTRAL LAYER

Neutral
Axis

t
Neutral layer

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Assumptions made in Pure bending theory

1) The beam is initially straight and every layer is free to expand
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)

or contract.
The material is homogenous and isotropic.
Youngs modulus (E) is same in both tension and
compression.
Stresses are within the elastic limit.
The radius of curvature of the beam is very large in
comparison to the depth of the beam.
A transverse section of the beam which is plane before
bending will remain plane even after bending.
Stress is purely longitudinal.

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Results of pure bending theory

The neutral plane passes through the centroid of the cross
section.
The bending equation is given by
Where:
E= Youngs modulus,
R= Radius of curvature,
M= Bending moment at the section,
I= Moment of inertia about neutral axis,
f or = Bending stress
y = distance of the fibre from the neutral axis
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Bending of thin plates in one dimension

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

For bending moment

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Bending of thin plates in two dimensions

The thin rectangular plate of Fig
(a) is subjected to pure bending
moments of intensity Mx and My
per
unit
length
uniformly
distributed along its edges.
According to simple beam theory,
the middle plane of the plate does
not deform during the bending and
is therefore a neutral plane.

Fig (a) Plate subjected to pure bending

Let us consider an element of the

plate of side x y and having a
depth equal to the thickness t of
the plate as shown in Fig (b).
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Fig (b) Direct stress on lamina of plate element

Bending of thin plates in two dimensions

Suppose that the radii of curvature of the neutral
plane n are x and y in the xz and yz planes
respectively (Fig. (c)).
Simple beam theory, the direct strains x and y
corresponding to direct stresses x and y of an
elemental lamina of thickness z a distance z
below the neutral plane are given by
Fig.(c ) radii of curvature of neutral plane

we have,
rearranging above eqs. and substiduding in x
and y gives,

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Bending of thin plates in two dimensions

The internal direct stress distribution on each vertical surface of the
element must be in equilibrium with the applied bending moments.
Thus,
and
Substituting x and y in above,

Let,
Then

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Where, D is known as the flexural rigidity

of the plate.

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Bending of thin plates in two dimensions

If w is the deflection of any point on the plate in the z direction, then we
may relate w to the curvature of the plate in the same manner as the wellknown expression for beam curvature. Hence

So,

If either Mx or My is zero

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Bending of thin plates in two dimensions

The case of My =0 is illustrated in
Fig. (d)
A surface possessing two
curvatures of opposite sign is
known as an anticlastic surface, as
opposed to a synclastic surface
which has curvatures of the same
sign.
if Mx =My =M

Fig(d) Anticlastic bending

Therefore, the deformed shape

of the plate is spherical and of
curvature

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Anticlastic
Bending

1/27/16

Synclastic Bending

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Plates subjected to bending and twisting

The perpendicular components are
seen to be Mx and My as before, while
the tangential components Mxy and Myx
(again these are moments per unit
length) produce twisting of the plate
about axes parallel to the x and y axes.
From a consideration of
complementary shear stresses
Mxy=Myx, so that we may represent a
general moment application to the plate
in terms of Mx, My and Mxy as shown in
Fig(b).
These moments produce tangential and
normal moments, Mt and Mn, on an
arbitrarily chosen diagonal plane FD.

Fig (a).Plate subjected to bending and twisting.

Fig (b).Plate subjected to bending and twisting

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Plates subjected to bending and twisting

For equilibrium of the triangular
element ABC of Fig.(c). in a plane
perpendicular to AC

Similarly for equilibrium in a plane

parallel to CA
Fig (c)tangential and normal moments on an arbitrary plane.

For Mt =0, leaving normal moments of intensity Mn on

two mutually perpendicular planes. These moments are
termed principal moments and their corresponding
curvatures principal curvatures.
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Plates subjected to bending and twisting

Now consider an element in a plate
subjected to twisting moment as
shown in the fig(d).
on the face ABCD,

and on the face ADFE

Giving

Fig(d).Complementary shear stresses due to twisting moments Mxy.

or in terms of the shear strain xy and modulus of rigidity G

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Plates subjected to bending and twisting

The shear strain xy

An element taken through the

thickness of the plate will suffer
rotations equal to w/x and w/y
Fig(e). Determination of shear strain xy
in the xz and yz planes respectively.
Considering the rotation of such
an element in the xz plane, as shown in Fig.(e).
The displacement u in the x direction of a point a distance z below the
neutral plane is

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Plates subjected to bending and twisting

Hence, substituting for u and v in the expression for xy we have

Replacing G by the expression E/2(1+)

Multiplying the numerator and denominator of this equation by the factor

(1) yields

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Plates subjected to a distributed transverse load

Consider a distributed transverse load of
intensity q per unit area such that
distributed load may, in general, vary over
the surface of the plate and is therefore a
function of x &y as shown in the Fig(a).
Assume middle plane as a neutral plane.
Assume that although xz =xz/G and
yz =yz/G are negligible the corresponding
Fig(a).Plate supporting a distributed transverse load.

shear forces are of the same order of

magnitude as the applied load q and the moments Mx, My and Mxy.

For the Fig(b) the vertical shear forces Qx and Qy per unit length on faces
perpendicular to the x and y axes, respectively.
The variation of shear stresses xz and yz along the small edges x, y of the
element is neglected and the resultant shear forces Qxy and Qyx are assumed
to act through the centroid of the faces of the element.
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Plates subjected to a distributed transverse load

We have

1/27/16

Fig(b).Plate element subjected to bending, twisting and transverse loads.

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

In a similar fashion,

For equilibrium of the element parallel to Oz and assuming that the weight
of the plate is included in q

Taking moments about the x axis

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Simplifying this equation and neglecting small quantities of a higher order

than those retained gives

Similarly taking moments about the y axis we have

Substituting Qx and Qy from above eqs. To below eq.

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

or

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Boundary Conditions
Before discussing the solution of Laplace Eq. for particular cases we
shall establish boundary conditions for various types of edge
support.
The simply supported edge

Let us suppose that the edge x =0 of the thin plate shown in Fig. (c) is free to rotate but not to deflect.
The edge is then said to be simply supported. The bending moment along this edge must be zero and
also the deflection w=0. Thus

Fig (c).Plate of dimensions ab.

The condition that w=0 along the edge x =0 also means that

Along this edge. The above

boundary
conditions
therefore reduce to
Y.SHARATH
CHANDRA
MOULI,
1/27/16

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Boundary Conditions
The built-in edge
If the edge x =0 is built-in or firmly clamped so that it can neither rotate nor deflect,
then, in addition to w, the slope of the middle plane of the plate normal to this edge must
be zero. That is

The free edge

Along a free edge there are no bending moments, twisting moments or vertical shearing
forces, so that if x =0 is the free edge then

Consider two adjacent elements y1 and y2 along the edge of the

thin plate of Fig.(d),

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Boundary Conditions
The twisting moment Mxyy1 on
the element y1 may be replaced
by forces Mxy a distance y1
apart.
The twisting moment on the
adjacent element y2 is
[Mxy +(Mxy/y)y]y2.

Fig (d).Equivalent vertical force system

Again this may be replaced by forces Mxy +(Mxy/y)y.

At the common surface of the two adjacent elements there is now a
resultant force (Mxy/y)y or a vertical force per unit length of
Mxy/y.
For a statically equivalent vertical force per unit length of (Qx
Mxy/y).
The separate conditions for a free edge of (Mxy)x=0 =0
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Boundary Conditions
In terms of deflection,

and

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Sample case
The solution for the simple case of a thin rectangular
plate of dimensions ab.
Consider a thin rectangular plate of dimensions ab, simply supported
along each of its four edges and carrying a distributed load q(x, y)
We havethe governing eq.,
The boundary conditions,
Navier (1820) showed that
these conditions are satisfied by
representing the deflection w as
an infinite trigonometrical or
Fourier series.
Where,m represents the number
of half waves in the x direction and n the corresponding number in
the y direction.
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Sample case
We may also represent the load q(x, y) by a Fourier series, thus

A particular coefficient amn is calculated by first multiplying both sides of

above Eq. by sin(mx/a) sin(ny/b) and integrating with respect to x from 0
to a and with respect to y from 0 to b. Thus

Since,

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Sample case
It follows that,
Substituting now for w and q(x, y)in governing equation,

This equation is valid for all values of x and y so that

in alternative form,

giving

Hence,

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Combined bending and in-plane loading of a thin

rectangular plate
The elevation and plan of a small element xy of the middle plane of a
thin deflected plate are shown in Fig(a).
Direct and shear forces per unit
length produced by the in-plane
loads are given the notation Nx,
Ny and Nxy and are assumed to
be acting in positive senses in
the directions shown.
Since there are no resultant
forces in the x or y directions from
the transverse loads, we need
only include the in-plane loads shown in Fig(a).
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Fig(a). In-plane forces on plate element

Combined bending and in-plane loading of a thin

rectangular plate
considering the equilibrium of the element in these directions. For
equilibrium parallel to Ox

For small deflections w/x and (w/x)+(2w/x2)x are small and the
cosines of these angles are therefore approximately equal to one. The
equilibrium equation thus simplifies to
Similarly for equilibrium in
the y direction,
The determination of the contribution of the shear loads to the equilibrium
of the element in the z direction is complicated by the fact that the element
possesses curvature in both xz and yz planes.
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Combined bending and in-plane loading of a thin

rectangular plate
Therefore, from Fig(a). the component in the z direction due to the
Nxy shear loads only is
or

Similarly, the contribution of Nyx is

The components arising from the direct forces per unit length are
readily obtained from Fig.(a)

or

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similarly from y direction

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,
Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Combined bending and in-plane loading of a thin

rectangular plate
The total force in the z direction is found from the summation of
these expressions and is

Nyx is equal to and is replaced by Nxy

the in-plane forces do not produce moments along the edges of the
element then following Eqs. remain unaffected.

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Combined bending and in-plane loading of a thin

rectangular plate
We have the governing eq. for the thin plate under transverse loads,

The above eq. may be modified simply by the addition of the above
vertical component of the in-plane loads to qxy.
Therefore, the governing differential equation for a thin plate supporting
transverse and in-plane loads is

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, IARE.

Bending of thin plates having a small initial

curvature
Suppose that a thin plate has an initial curvature so that the deflection of
any point in its middle plane is w0 and w0 is small compared to the
thickness of the plate.
The application of transverse and in-plane loads will cause the plate to
deflect a further amount w1 so that the total deflection is then w=w0 +w1.
From the governing eq.,

The effect of an initial curvature on deflection is therefore equivalent to the

application of a transverse load of intensity

Thus, in-plane loads alone produce bending provided there is an initial

curvature.
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, ASTI.

Bending of thin plates having a small initial

curvature
Assuming that the initial form of the deflected plate is

and

where

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, ASTI.

Energy method for the bending of thin plates

Strain energy produced by bending and twisting:

The bending strain energy due to Mx is

The contribution of My to the bending strain energy is
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, ASTI.

Energy method for the bending of thin plates

The strain energy due to the twisting moment per unit length, Mxy, applied
to the y edges of the element, is obtained from Fig. 7.14(b).

The contribution of the twisting moment Mxy on the x edges is

The total strain energy of the element from bending and twisting is thus

Substitution for Mx, My and Mxy gives the total strain energy of the element
as

On rearranging,
1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, ASTI.

Hence the total strain energy U of the rectangular plate ab is

Note that if the plate is subject to pure bending only, then Mxy =0, giving

Potential energy of a transverse load:

An element x y of the transversely loaded plate supports a load qxy. If the
displacement of the element normal to the plate is w then the potential energy v of the
load on the element referred to the undeflected plate position is V = w q x y
The potential energy V of the total load on the plate is given by

The potential energy of complete in-plane loading system:

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, ASTI.

Test Problem
Considering the rectangular plate as shown in fig., simply supported along
all four edges and subjected to a uniformly distributed transverse load of
intensity q0.
we know that its deflected shape is
given by Eq.
The total potential energy of the plate is

Substituding w in above eq.

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, ASTI.

Test Problem
The term multiplied by 2(1) integrates to zero and the mean value of sin 2
or cos2 over a complete number of half waves is 1/2 , thus integration of
the above expression yields

From the principle of the stationary value of the total potential energy

so that,

The deflected form is given by,

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, ASTI.

1.
2.
3.

4.

5.

6.

Assignmenmt - 1

Derive the equation (1/) = [ D (1+ )] of thin plate subjected to

pure bending.
Derive the equation Mxy = D (1-) 2w/xy for a thin plate
subjected to bending and twisting.
Derive the Governing differential equation for a simply supported
thin rectangular plate subjected to distributed transverse load of
intensity q per unit area.
A thin rectangular plate a b is simply supported along its edges
and carries a uniformly distributed load of intensity q 0. Determine
the deflected form of the plate and the distribution of bending
moment. Here a is length and b is width of the plate.
Determine the deflected form of the thin rectangular plate a b is
simply supported along its edges and carrying a uniformly
distributed load of intensity q0 . In addition to that it supports an inplane tensile force Nx per unit length. Here a is length and b is
width of the plate.
Examples 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 & 7.4.

1/27/16

Y.SHARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Asst. Professor, AE Dept, ASTI.